Summaries of recent news coverage about medical malpractice in Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania appear below.Nebraska: The state Senate recently passed a bill (LB 373) under which plaintiffs could not use statements of sympathy, condolences, apologies or a "general sense of benevolence" by physicians as evidence in malpractice lawsuits, the AP/Sioux City Journal reports (Jenkins, AP/Sioux City Journal, 4/24). Under the legislation, plaintiffs could continue to use statements of fault by physicians as evidence in malpractice lawsuits (Young, Lincoln Journal Star, 4/24). Twenty-nine other states have enacted similar laws (CongressDaily, 4/30).

Nevada: The state Assembly Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing on a bill (SB 174) under which plaintiffs could not use statements of apology, regret or condolence by physicians as evidence in malpractice lawsuits, the AP/Nevada Appeal reports. State Sen. Joe Heck (R), who sponsored the legislation, said that similar laws in other states have reduced the number of malpractice lawsuits. However, critics raised concerns about whether physicians could make statements of apology "without then lying on the stand about their own negligence," according to the AP/Nevada Appeal (Fehd, AP/Nevada Appeal, 4/28).

Ohio: The state Supreme Court on Tuesday began to hear arguments in a case that challenges the constitutionality of state caps on damages in malpractice lawsuits, the Toledo Blade reports. A state law enacted in 2005 capped noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits at $500,000 per injury and capped punitive damages at twice the amount of economic damages. The law did not cap economic damages in malpractice lawsuits. U.S. District Court Judge David Katz asked the state Supreme Court to determine whether the state caps are constitutional (Provance, Toledo Blade, 5/2).

Oklahoma: Gov. Brad Henry (D) on Saturday vetoed a bill (SB 507) that would have capped noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits at $300,000 because of concerns that the legislation would not prevent frivolous lawsuits, the Daily Oklahoman reports. Under the legislation, juries in malpractice lawsuits could have awarded punitive damages only when they found clear evidence of intentional or flagrant negligence (Greiner, Daily Oklahoman, 4/29).

Pennsylvania: High malpractice insurance premium rates have had no effect on the number of Pennsylvania physicians who practice in high-risk specialties, according to a recent study published on the Web site of the journal Health Affairs, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. For the study, researchers examined more than 47,000 physicians and medical residents who participated in Mcare, the state malpractice insurance fund, between 1993 and 2002. The study found that the total number of Pennsylvania physicians increased by almost 6% between 1993 and 2002 and that the total number of physicians who practiced in high-risk specialties increased by 3.3% during the same period (AP/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 4/26).

An abstract of the study is available online.

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