Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report highlights recent developments related to medical malpractice in three states. Summaries appear below.

• Hawaii: The Hawaii State Bar Association and Honolulu County Medical Society have recommended that the state enact a law to allow physicians and hospitals to apologize for medical errors without increased liability risk, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reports. The groups plan to form a committee to examine similar laws in other states -- such as Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Oregon. The Hawaii Medical Claims Conciliation Panel has offered to help the two groups draft the proposed legislation (Altonn, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 10/31).
  
  
• Virginia: About three-fourths of malpractice lawsuits filed in Virginia over the past three years resulted in no payments to plaintiffs, according to data released this week by the state Bureau of Insurance, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Over the past three years, malpractice lawsuits resulted in $70 million in payments to plaintiffs annually, with more than 1,200 claims filed against physicians annually. The average malpractice settlement among all physicians totaled about $220,000, and the average settlement among obstetricians and general surgeons totaled $383,500 and $391,000, respectively. Over the past three years, malpractice insurers paid $221 million to plaintiffs, although 60% of payments totaled less than $600,000 and only 33 totaled more than $1 million. According to the Times-Dispatch, observers disagree about whether the data indicate that "Virginia physicians are being overrun with frivolous claims or that conservative Virginia juries are listening more to the doctor's defense than the patient" (McKelway/Hickey, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 11/2).
  
  
• Wisconsin: The state Assembly last week passed a bill that would establish a two-tiered cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 10/31). Wisconsin first established a cap on damages in malpractice lawsuits in 1975, when the state enacted a $1 million cap on noneconomic damages. The cap expired in 1991, and the state enacted a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages in 1995. However, in July, the state Supreme Court ruled that the 1995 cap violated the state constitution (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/28). The bill, which moves to the state Senate for consideration, would establish a $450,000 cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits in which the plaintiffs are adults and a $550,000 cap in cases in which the plaintiffs are minors. Supporters maintain that malpractice insurance costs could "skyrocket" without the legislation. However, according to opponents, the "previous limits did little to curb health care costs and placed the biggest burden on the most severely injured patients," CongressDaily reports. Gov. Jim Doyle (D) has not said whether he would sign the bill (CongressDaily, 10/31).