OREGON MALPRACTICE DAMAGE CAP HEADS TO BALLOT:

A proposed constitutional amendment to limit pain and suffering awards to $500,000 in Oregon medical malpractice cases will be on the ballot this November. Physicians said that rising malpractice insurance costs have made it difficult to recruit doctors in the state. Critics of the initiative said that other factors, including rising healthcare costs, contribute to rising insurance rates. The measure’s sponsors, called Oregonians for Quality, Affordable and Reliable Health Care, have raised about $4 million and have spent about $1 million putting their initiative on the ballot. This is the second time in four years that voters have been given the opportunity to limit damage awards. Oregon previously had a $500,000 limit on noneconomic damage awards in civil cases from 1987 to 1999 until the state Supreme Court said the law violated state constitutional rights to a jury trial. Legislators later sent an amendment to voters that would limit damage awards in civil lawsuits, but the measure was defeated by a 3-to-1 margin.