I have criticized the proposed attempts by Republicans in Congress to enact tort reform legislation (particularly a medical malpractice bill) here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. See also here.
I don't really know what happened to the bill that was originally proposed, but now reports are coming in that the U.S. Senate is set to consider on the Republicans' Jobs Through Growth Act, which contains a section aimed at reforming medical malpractice by imposing caps on economic and non-economic damages similar to those in place in Texas.
Hopefully, someone will point out to the Senators Public Citizen's recently published report documenting the failures of tort reform in Texas (see here).
In the meantime, you can read an article by Shirley Svorny on the subject in which she argues that caps on damages not only (obviously) hurt the most severely-injured individuals who seek compensation for their injuries, but also increase the risk of injury because they reduce medical professional liability insurers' financial incentives to reduce practice risk. You can read her full article here.
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