The following amendments were offered:
An amendment in the nature of a substitute
by Mr. Bilirakis, #1, was adopted, amended,
by a voice vote.
An amendment to the Bilirakis amendment by Mr.
Dingell, #1A, the "Medical Malpractice Reform Act of
2003," re: to establish certification requirements to eliminate frivolous lawsuits;
to require savings to be passed through to providers; to establish a commission to
consider other measures to reduce malpractice premiums, such as insurance reforms; to
provide for assistance to physicians and communities hurt by large premium increases, and
for other purposes, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 20-31;
An amendment to the Bilirakis amendment by Mr.
Pallone, #1B, re: to clarify the definitions section of the bill
to ensure that its liability protections do no apply to health maintenance organizations
(HMOs) and drug and device manufacturers, was defeated by a yea-nay vote:
22-25;
An amendment to the Bilirakis amendment by Ms.
DeGette, #1C, re: to eliminate the $250,000 cap on
non-economic damages and the cap on punitive damages for all claims against
negligent hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, HMOs, drug and device manufacturers, was defeated
by a yea-nay vote: 20-30;
An amendment to the Bilirakis amendment by Mr.
Waxman, #1D, re: FDA Defense - to strike section 7, subsection
(c) - this provision of the bill would protect manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers
of drugs and medical devices from punitive damages unless it can be proven that the drug
or device failed to comply with a specific requirement of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
and that the harm resulted from that failure to comply; the provision would also prohibit
providers from being named in any product liability lawsuit against a manufacturer,
distributor, or seller of an FDA-cleared drug or medical device. The amendment was defeated
by a yea-nay vote: 20-29;
An amendment to the Bilirakis amendment by Mr.
Wynn, #1E, re: striking the text of H.R. 5 and insert language
creating a Commission on Malpractice Insurance, a Federal bipartisan commission of eight
members to study the cause of rising medical malpractice premiums during the last 20
years; the commission would look at the investment, accounting, and pricing practices of
carriers, as well as jury awards in medical malpractice cases to determine the cause for
the rise in premiums. The amendment was defeated by a yea-nay vote:
19-28;
An amendment to the Bilirakis amendment by Mr.
Green, #1F, re: striking the text of H.R. 5 and replacing it
with a resolution stating that Congress should not substitute its judgment for the systems
which have thoughtfully evolved in each State over time; and that States can and should
act to protect their citizens with respect to liability for injuries that arise as a
result of medical negligence, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 21-26;
An amendment to the Bilirakis amendment by Mr.
Engel, #1G, re: modifying the statute of limitations, was defeated
by a yea-nay vote: 15-28;
An amendment by Mr. Brown,
#1H, re: applicability of this legislation to a State, was defeated
by a voice vote;
An amendment by Mr. Markey,
#1I, re: use of savings to benefit providers through reduced premiums,
was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 9-27;
An amendment by Mrs. Capps,
#1J, re: applicability of legislation to a State - bill's provisions
would not go into effect in a State unless the State's insurance commissioner certifies to
the Department of Health and Human Services that the State has a) instituted stringent
controls on insurance company profiteering, waste, and inefficiency through a regulatory
process subject to public scrutiny and participation, including prior approval of
rate/premium changes and b) ended monopolistic insurer practices, was defeated
by a voice vote;
An amendment by Mr. Rush, #1K,
re: allowing for the annual increases of non-economic damages to be determined by the
annual rate of inflation, was defeated by a voice vote;
An amendment by Mrs. Capps,
#1L, re: setting the caps at the higher of two options - 1) $250,000 or
2) the total compensation package (including bonuses, stock options and holdings, health
benefits, and salary) of the CEO of the insurance company covering the defendant, was defeated
by a yea-nay vote: 11-27;
An amendment by Ms. Schakowsky,
#1M, re: to clarify the definitions section of the bill to ensure that
its liability protections do not apply to nursing homes, was defeated by
voice vote;
An amendment by Mr. Allen,
#1N, re: exempting States that have a certified pre-litigation screening
panel from the cap on non-economic damages, was defeated by voice vote;
An amendment by Ms. Schakowsky,
#1O, re: to provide consumers with the right to additional judicial
recourse to recoup additional economic damages when original economic damages are not
sufficient to cover actual medical expenses, was defeated by voice vote;
An amendment by Mr. Pallone,
#1P, re: to create a national reinsurance program for medical
malpractice; insurers would pay into a federal fund established and monitored by the
Secretary for Health and Human Services; the Secretary, upon deciding if a certain state
or region is experience a medical malpractice crisis, would be then allocate money from
the federal fund to that state or region in an effort to stabilize the market and keep
medical malpractice premiums under control; the program would address claims in excess of
$250,000. It was withdrawn by unanimous consent.
