Oregon has raised the limits on malpractice and other negligence awards against public employees, but private clinicians remain unprotected.
The new law restricts damages at $1.5 million to $3.5 million for state hospitals and clinics. The caps will rise to the $2 million to $4 million range for five years. Awards against cities, counties, schools and other public entities are limited to $500,000 per claim and $1 million per incident.
But the state still has no cap is in place for clinicians in private practice. “We couldn’t get that all fixed in this bill,” state Rep. Jeff Barker told the Portland Oregonian “This is a step in the right direction.”
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