Product Liability Bill Faces Intense Battle Senate Demos Vow To Rewrite ‘Extreme’ Portions Of House Bill
Senate Democrats pledged Monday to rewrite “extreme” portions of a Housepassed bill that would limit punitive damage awards from product liability lawsuits.
The Senate version of the bill was the first on the agenda as the chamber returned from its two-week spring recess, and debate was expected to extend into next week.
Lobbyists were mobilizing for extensive campaigns, with business groups arguing that they need protection from frivolous lawsuits while trial lawyers and consumer groups stressed that the rights of legal redress from wrongdoing were at risk.
One of the Senate bill’s sponsors, Slade Gorton, R-Wash., said the issue has been complicated by the desire of Americans to protect both the rights of individuals and the prosperity and economic viability of business.
“It is the restoration of that balance, a balance that has been distorted to one side of the equation, that is the goal” of reform legislation, he said.
The Senate bill would limit the amount of punitive damages in product liability suits to three times the amount of economic damages, or $250,000, whichever is greater.
The House bill, part of the GOP’s “Contract With America,” caps punitive damages at that level for all civil litigation, not just disputes over faulty products.
Unlike the Senate measure, the House bill also gives courts the authority to sanction lawyers who file frivolous product liability suits and exempts pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers and sellers from punitive damages if their products have pre-market approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
“I hope that we will modify what the House has done in passing the extreme measures that they have,” said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. “Trial by jury is something constitutionally protected, but I’ve never seen a greater abrogation of that opportunity than I have with the legislation passed by the House.”
Daschle also objected to a “loser pays” section in the bill that requires the losing party to pay the attorney fees of the other side. The Clinton administration has also opposed some elements of the House bill.
The Senate version also states that no claims can be made after 20 years from the time a product is delivered - the House bill has a 15-year limit.
The Senate Labor Committee is to resume deliberations this week on a medical malpractice reform bill that would also limit punitive damage awards in health liability cases to $250,000 and take other steps to discourage malpractice lawsuits.
Backers are expected to try to add malpractice reform to the product liability bill and the American Medical Association was lobbying strenuously to line up support in the Senate for an additional $250,000 cap on awards for pain and suffering. The House voted for such a cap.
At least four previous Congresses have unsuccessfully tried to pass product liability reform that applies some federal uniformity to standards for claims generally resolved under state laws.