Petition to protect doctors cleared

Friday, Nov. 15, 2002 | 5:48 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- An initiative petition to further tighten the protection given Nevada doctors in medical malpractice suits has cleared its first hurdle.

The Secretary of State's Office said today the raw count on the initiative petition shows 93,655 signatures. It needed 61,336.

Susan Bilyeu, deputy secretary of state for elections, said county clerks will now be directed to start the verification process to determine if the signatures are valid.

The deadline for verification is Dec. 2.

While the Legislature, in a special session, enacted a bill to ease the crisis facing physicians who could not get malpractice insurance, a group called "Keep Our Doctors in Nevada" has circulated a new petition.

The new petition calls for limiting the amount of money attorneys can receive for their fees in malpractice cases, and it sets a firm cap of $350,000 that a patient can recover for pain and suffering.

The law passed by the Legislature established the $350,000 limit for non-economic damages, but in certain cases the injured patient could collect more.

If the initiative qualifies, it goes to the 2003 Legislature, which must take action in the first 40 days of the session. If the Legislature does not pass it or amend it, the petition goes on the election ballot in 2004.

Dr. Rudy Manthes of Henderson, a leader in the petition effort, said physicians are continuing to leave the state despite the action by the special session of the Legislature.

"We're still in a crisis mode," Manthes said.

A group called Nevadans For Fair Insurance Rates sent out a flier to homes asking people to withdraw their names from the petition. Manthes called that a "plot by the trial attorneys."

He said the malpractice group filed its petition a week early to prevent anybody from withdrawing their names.

A spokesman for Nevadans For Fair Insurance Rates could not immediately be reached for comment.