COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 8
(By Senators Kessler, Palumbo, Minard, Foster, Jenkins, Oliverio
and D. Facemire)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 1, 2010.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §55-7B-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to adding pharmacist and pharmacy
to the definition of "health care provider" as used in the
Medical Professional Liability Act; and exempting pharmacists
and pharmacies from the protections of this article where they
are asserting that they were dispensing or selling medications
in their original packaging.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §55-7B-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7B. MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY.
§55-7B-2. Definitions.
(a) "Board" means the state Board of Risk and Insurance
Management.
(b) "Collateral source" means a source of benefits or advantages for economic loss that the claimant has received from:
(1) Any federal or state act, public program or insurance which
provides payments for medical expenses, disability benefits,
including workers' compensation benefits, or other similar benefits.
Benefits payable under the Social Security Act are not considered
payments from collateral sources except for Social Security
disability benefits directly attributable to the medical injury in
question;
(2) Any contract or agreement of any group, organization,
partnership or corporation to provide, pay for or reimburse the cost
of medical, hospital, dental, nursing, rehabilitation, therapy or
other health care services or provide similar benefits;
(3) Any group accident, sickness or income disability
insurance, any casualty or property insurance (including automobile
and homeowners' insurance) which provides medical benefits, income
replacement or disability coverage, or any other similar insurance
benefits, except life insurance, to the extent that someone other
than the insured, including the insured's employer, has paid all or
part of the premium or made an economic contribution on behalf of
the plaintiff; or
(4) Any contractual or voluntary wage continuation plan
provided by an employer or otherwise or any other system intended
to provide wages during a period of disability.
(c) "Consumer price index" means the most recent consumer price
index for all consumers published by the United States Department
of Labor.
(d) "Emergency condition" means any acute traumatic injury or
acute medical condition which, according to standardized criteria
for triage, involves a significant risk of death or the
precipitation of significant complications or disabilities,
impairment of bodily functions, or, with respect to a pregnant
woman, a significant risk to the health of the unborn child.
(e) "Health care" means any act or treatment performed or
furnished, or which should have been performed or furnished, by any
health care provider for, to or on behalf of a patient during the
patient's medical care, treatment or confinement.
(f) "Health care facility" means any clinic, hospital, nursing
home or assisted living facility, including personal care home,
residential care community and residential board and care home, or
behavioral health care facility or comprehensive community mental
health/mental retardation center, in and licensed by the State of
West Virginia and any state-operated institution or clinic providing
health care.
(g) "Health care provider" means a person, partnership,
corporation, professional limited liability company, health care
facility or institution licensed by, or certified in, this state or
another state, to provide health care or professional health care
services, including, but not limited to, a physician, osteopathic
physician, hospital,
pharmacist, pharmacy, dentist, registered or
licensed practical nurse, optometrist, podiatrist, chiropractor,
physical therapist, psychologist, emergency medical services
authority or agency, or an officer, employee or agent thereof acting in the course and scope of
such that officer's, employee's or
agent's employment.
Provided, That no pharmacist or pharmacy shall
be considered a healthcare provider for purposes of this article in
any civil action wherein the pharmacist or pharmacy is asserting
that he, she or it merely sold or dispensed a drug, chemical or
medicine unchanged from the original retail package as referenced
in section twelve, article five, chapter thirty of this code.
(h) "Medical injury" means injury or death to a patient arising
or resulting from the rendering of or failure to render health care.
(i) "Medical professional liability" means any liability for
damages resulting from the death or injury of a person for any tort
or breach of contract based on health care services rendered, or
which should have been rendered, by a health care provider or health
care facility to a patient.
(j) "Medical professional liability insurance" means a contract
of insurance or any actuarially sound self-funding program that pays
for the legal liability of a health care facility or health care
provider arising from a claim of medical professional liability.
In order to qualify as medical professional liability insurance for
purposes of this article, a self-funding program for an individual
physician must meet the requirements and minimum standards set forth
in section twelve of this article.
(k) "Noneconomic loss" means losses, including, but not limited
to, pain, suffering, mental anguish and grief.
(l) "Patient" means a natural person who receives or should
have received health care from a licensed health care provider under a contract, expressed or implied.
(m) "Plaintiff" means a patient or representative of a patient
who brings an action for medical professional liability under this
article.
(n) "Representative" means the spouse, parent, guardian,
trustee, attorney or other legal agent of another.
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(NOTE: Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.)