Medical malpractice reform heads to the House

Senate Bill 33 is on its way to the state House after winning Senate approval today by a wide bipartisan margin.

Posted 3:27 a.m. Mar 3, 2011 — Updated 2:52 p.m. Mar 3, 2011

Laura Leslie

Senate Bill 33, the Medical Malpractice Reform bill, is on its way to the state House after winning Senate approval today by a bipartisan 36-13 margin.

Democratic physicians Bill Purcell and Eric Mansfield voted for the measure, along with Dems Clark Jenkins, Ed Jones, Michael Walters and Stan White. (Catawba Republican Austin Allran recused himself from today's vote for conflict-of-interest reasons.)

The full story on today's debate is here, but since it's such a complex issue, I wanted to offer a little more detail on the pros and cons than the standard story provided.

Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake, was one of two Dems – Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt was the other – who tried unsuccessfully to make big changes to the bill in committee and on the floor. Stein said he has concerns about S33, from the changes it would make in ER liability to its cap on non-economic damages.

On the other side, Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, is one of S33's main sponsors and probably its most outspoken advocate.

For more details, you can watch the Senate floor debate on S33 in its entirety.

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