article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Health Care Liability Reform Act''. SEC. 2. HEALTH CARE LIABILITY REFORM. (a) Punitive Damages.-- (1) Award.--Punitive damages may, to the extent permitted by applicable State law, be awarded against a manufacturer or product seller in a civil action if the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the harm suffered was the result of conduct manifesting actual malice. (2) Drugs and devices.--The manufacturer of a prescription drug or device and a health care provider shall not be subject to punitive damages with respect to harm caused by a drug or device if the drug or device was approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act unless-- (A) the manufacturer withholds from the Food and Drug Administration, or (B) the health care provider withholds from a patient, information which is relevant to the performance of the drug or device and causally related to the harm suffered by the plaintiff. (3) Limitation on amount.--The amount of punitive damages that may be awarded for a claim in any civil action shall not exceed 3 times the amount awarded to the claimant for the economic injury on which such claim is based, or $250,000, whichever is greater. (b) Several Liability for Noneconomic Damages.--In any action, the liability of each manufacturer or product seller of the product involved in such action shall be several only and shall not be joint for noneconomic damages. Such manufacturer or product seller shall be liable only for the amount of noneconomic damages allocated to such manufacturer or seller in direct proportion to such manufacturer's or such seller's percentage of responsibility as determined by the trier of fact. (c) Definitions.--As used in this section: (1) Claimant.--The term ``claimant'' means any person who brings a product liability action and any person on whose behalf such an action is brought, including such person's decedent if such an action is brought through or on behalf of an estate or such person's legal representative if it is brought through or on behalf of a minor or incompetent. (2) Malice.--The term ``malice'' means conduct that is either-- (A) specifically intended to cause serious personal injury, or (B) carried out with both a flagrant indifference to the rights of the claimant and an awareness that such conduct is likely to result in serious personal injury. (3) Manufacturer.--With respect to a product, the term ``manufacturer'' means-- (A) any person who is engaged in a business to produce, create, make, or construct the product and who designs or formulates the product or has engaged another person to design or formulate the product, (B) a product seller of the product who, before placing the product in the stream of commerce-- (i) designs or formulates or has engaged another person to design or formulate an aspect of the product after the product was initially made by another, and (ii) produces, creates, makes, or constructs such aspect of the product, or (C) any product seller not described in subparagraph (B) which holds itself out as a manufacturer to the user of the product, (4) Product.--The term ``product''-- (A) means any object, substance, mixture, or raw material in a gaseous, liquid, or solid state-- (i) which is capable of delivery itself, in a mixed or combined state, or as a component part or ingredient, (ii) which is produced for introduction into trade or commerce, (iii) which has intrinsic economic value, and (iv) which is intended for sale or lease to persons for commercial or personal use, and (B) does not include-- (i) human tissue, human organs, human blood, and human blood products, or (ii) electricity, water delivered by a utility, natural gas, or steam, (5) Product seller.--The term ``product seller''-- (A) means a person-- (i) who sells, distributes, leases, prepares, blends, packages, or labels a product or is otherwise involved in placing a product in the stream of commerce, or (ii) who installs, repairs, or maintains the harm-causing aspect of a product, and (B) does not include-- (i) a manufacturer, (ii) a seller or lessor of real property, (iii) a provider of professional services in any case in which the sale or use of a product is incidental to the transaction and the essence of the transaction is the furnishing of judgment, skill, or services, (iv) any person who acts only in a financial capacity with respect to the sale of a product, or (v) any person who leases a product under a lease arrangement in which the selection, possession, maintenance, and operation of the product are controlled by a person other than the lessor. SEC. 3. PREEMPTION. This Act preempts State law, with respect to both procedural and substantive measures, to the extent that such law-- (1) permits the recovery of a greater amount of punitive damages by a plaintiff than that authorized by section 2(a)(3); or (2) permits an action for joint liability for noneconomic damages against a manufacturer or product seller of a product involved in the action, which action is prohibited by section 2(b). Any issue that is not governed by this Act shall be governed by otherwise applicable State or Federal law.
summary: Prohibits the manufacturer of a prescription drug or device and a health care provider from being subject to punitive damages with respect to harm caused by a drug or device if the drug or device was approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act unless: (1)the manufacturer withholds from the Food and Drug Administration; or (2) the health care provider withholds from a patient, information which is relevant to the performance of the drug or device and causally related to the harm suffered by the plaintiff.