Lawmakers debate medical negligence bill

Dozens of Nevadans, including patients affected by a hepatitis C outbreak in Las Vegas, packed hearing rooms here and in Las Vegas on Monday to support a bill that would allow for bigger lawsuit awards as a result of negligence by doctors.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee debated AB495, a response to the hepatitis C outbreak that led to the largest patient notification in U.S. history. More than 50,000 patients at two now-closed outpatient clinics were notified last year that they may have been exposed to bloodborne diseases by shoddy injection practices.

"These health care providers, under anybody's standard, were grossly negligent, and they absolutely put profit ahead of patient safety," said Bill Bradley, representing the Nevada Justice Association. "In the 14 months since this outbreak occurred, not a single provider's license has been revoked. There are medical providers performing endoscopies today who were involved in this."

Proponents of the bill said existing state law protects doctors who harm patients by limiting damage awards in medical malpractice suits to $350,000. The bill would remove that limit in cases of "gross negligence." It also would expand the time in which an effected patient or family member could sue.

Megan Gasper, 33, a mother of two children, told legislators she contracted hepatitis C after having two colonoscopies performed at the two clinics where the outbreak occurred, the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada and the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center.

"This has pretty much stolen a year of my life," Gasper said, fighting tears. "When you have to get up out of bed every day, and know that you have to take a medicine that will seriously affect your ability to play with your children, it's hard to give yourself a self-injection."

Former patients and family members told frightening stories of substandard care. Kevin Murray lost his daughter when doctors failed to notice the signs of meningitis. Michael Washington, who was the first patient to test positive for hepatitis C after the outbreak, said he would never be normal again.

But as emotional as the room became, lawmakers were told it is not simply a matter or right or wrong. Opponents said that changing the law to allow for greater compensation could lead to higher insurance rates for medical malpractice, raising costs for doctors so much that they might leave the state.

Dr. Rudy Manthei, representing "Keep Our Doctors in Nevada," said that six years ago Nevada experienced a health care crisis because insurance rates were skyrocketing, and doctors were leaving the state.

Medical liability laws were reformed during a special legislative session in 2002, and by voters in an initiative petition in 2004. Since then, Manthei said insurance rates have fallen 30 by percent, helping doctors return to the state.

"If AB495 were to pass, there would be no limit to what attorneys could charge and collect," Manthei said. "We will return to the days when doctors couldn't afford to practice, when high-risk specialists were forced to practice in other states, and when Nevada seniors, parents and children simply couldn't get the care they needed."

Manthei added that improper behavior by medical professionals should be handled by the state Board of Medical Examiners.

Robert Byrd, representing the Independent Nevada Doctor Insurance Exchange, said that malpractice claims have decreased by 40 percent since tort reform legislation passed in 2004. But he cautioned that if AB495 passed, premiums could increase by as much as 65 percent.

"Doctors will once more be forced to leave Nevada," Byrd said. "Patients will have less access to doctors, and the level of care will deteriorate."

Besides the debate in the hearing, Nevadans on both sides of the issue rallied in Carson City and in Las Vegas.