If enacted, H.R. 5, the HEALTH Act of 2011, would severely limit medical malpractice awards under state tort law. Bob Peck of the Center for Constitutional Litigation says H.R. 5's limits on state-law tort recoveries would violate the U.S. constitution. James Ho of the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher disagrees.
On a related note, I testfied against H.R. 5 last April before the House Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, focusing on how the legislation would subvert legitimate litigation brought by people injured and killed by defective or mislabled drugs and medical devices. I explained why the legislation is a bad idea, but I did not raise any constitutional defect.
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