The following article by Kimberly Kindy was posted on the Washington Post website August 1, 2017:
For two years, lobbyists for doctors and their insurers met regularly around a conference table a few blocks from the Capitol to draft an overhaul of the nation’s medical malpractice laws. The resulting legislation proposed strict limits on damages for some plaintiffs and sharply lower fees for their attorneys.
Last month, with no public hearings and few modifications, the House voted to approve the measure — outraging victims’ rights advocates, who accused lawmakers of acting in secret to slam the courtroom door on people who have been grievously injured by doctors.
It isn’t unusual for industry stakeholders to draft legislation. But in this case, lobbyists were able to rapidly shepherd their bill to House passage with minimal input from the public or even members of Congress. Lobbyists then crowed about the achievement, boasting that the House-passed measure was nearly identical to one they provided to the House Judiciary Committee and that Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) introduced on Feb. 24. Continue reading “In Trump era, lobbyists boldly take credit for writing a bill to protect their industry”