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2005 General Session
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HB 108 proposed qualification requirements for expert medical witnesses in medical malpractice cases.
To testify in medical injury or death cases, a person would have had to be a licensed physician and be trained and experienced in the same discipline as the doctor who was charged with malpractice. The expert witness would also have to have been in active practice within the past five years, or have been teaching at an accredited medical school or working on university-based research.
Medical expert witnesses would have been prohibited from testifying on a contingency fee basis. Expert witnesses from another state would have been placed under the authority of the Wyoming Board of Medicine and potentially subject to sanctions.
Supporters argued that qualification requirements for expert witnesses were needed to ensure that accurate and unbiased information is presented during medical malpractice cases. They argued that if a person was allowed to testify as an expert witness on a contingency fee basis, they might exaggerate or selectively present facts to increase their own personal chances of obtaining a larger fee for their services. If their personal financial interest were not dependant on the outcome of the case, they might be more unbiased.
Opponents objected to singling out medical malpractice cases for this degree of statutory oversight, noting that in no other types of legal actions are qualifications of witnesses spelled out in similar detail. They also objected to placing expert witnesses under the authority of the Wyoming Board of Medicine, fearing this would have a chilling affect on the willingness of out-of-state experts to testify in Wyoming lawsuits. Opponents argued that expert witnesses in Wyoming lawsuits do not testify on a contingency fee basis, and there was no need to prohibit an activity that doesn't occur.
The House Labor, Health and Human Services Committee passed HB 108, 5-3 (1 excused). Then, the House Committee of the Whole defeated HB 108, 23-32 (5 excused). The votes of the House Labor, Health and Human Services Committee are listed below, followed by the House Committee of the Whole vote.
A YES vote means the representative wanted to implement qualification requirements on expert witnesses in medical malpractice cases, and to place witnesses under the authority of the Wyoming Board of Medicine.
A NO vote means the representative did not want to implement these provisions.
| House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee | HB 108 |
|
| H 40 | Doug Osborn (R - Buffalo - chairman) | Yes |
| H 49 | Bruce Barnard (R - Evanston) | Yes |
| H 38 | Bob Brechtel (R - Casper) | Yes |
| H 26 | Elaine Harvey (R - Lovell) | Yes |
| H 39 | John Hastert (D - Green River) | No |
| H 29 | Jerry Iekel (R - Sheridan) | Yes |
| H 52 | Burke Jackson (R - Rozet) | Excused |
| H 48 | Marty Martin (D - Rock Springs) | No |
| H 12 | Layton Morgan (D - Cheyenne) | No |
| Bighorn Basin Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 18 | Hank Coe (R) | |
| H 24 | Colin Simpson (R) | No |
| H 50 | Pat Childers (R) | Yes |
| S 19 | Laness D. Northrup (R) | |
| H 25 | Alan Jones (R) | Yes |
| H 26 | Elaine Harvey (R) | Yes |
| S 20 | Gerald E. Geis (R) | |
| H 27 | Debbie Hammons (D) | Yes |
| H 28 | Lorraine Quarberg (R) | Yes |
| Casper-Area Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 27 | John Barrasso (R) | |
| H 35 | Roy Cohee (R) | No |
| H 36 | Gerald Gay (R) | Yes |
| S 28 | Kit Jennings (R) | |
| H 56 | Tom Walsh (R) | Yes |
| H 57 | Thomas A. Lockhart (R) | Yes |
| S 29 | Bill Hawks (R) | |
| H 37 | Steve Harshman (R) | Yes |
| H 59 | Mary Gilmore (D) | Yes |
| S 30 | Charles K. Scott (R) | |
| H 38 | Bob Brechtel (R) | Yes |
| H 58 | Ann Robinson (D) | No |
| Cheyenne-Area Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 4 | Tony Ross (R) | |
| H 7 | Doug Samuelson (R) | No |
| H 41 | Becket Hinckley (R) | No |
| S 5 | John Hanes (R) | |
| H 8 | Larry Meuli (R) | Yes |
| H 42 | Pete Illoway (R) | No |
| S 6 | Wayne H. Johnson (R) | |
| H 9 | Bryan Pedersen (R) | Yes |
| H 10 | Rodney "Pete" Anderson (R) | Yes |
| S 7 | Kathryn Sessions (D) | |
| H 11 | Wayne Reese (D) | No |
| H 43 | Dan Zwonitzer (R) | No |
| S 8 | E. Jayne Mockler (D) | |
| H 12 | Layton Morgan (D) | No |
| H 44 | Floyd Esquibel (D) | No |
| Gillette-Area Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 23 | John Hines (R) | |
| H 31 | Thomas E. Lubnau II (R) | No |
| H 52 | Burke Jackson (R) | Excused |
| S 24 | Michael Von Flatern (R) | |
| H 32 | Jeff Wasserburger (R) | No |
| H 53 | Frank Latta (R) | Yes |
| Lander/Riverton-Area Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 25 | Cale Case (R) | |
| H 33 | W. Patrick Goggles (D) | No |
| H 54 | Del McOmie (R) | No |
| S 26 | Robert A. Peck (R) | |
| H 34 | Frank Philp (R) | Excused |
| H 55 | David Miller (R) | No |
| Northeast/East Central WY Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 1 | C.L. Townsend (R) | |
| H 1 | Mark Semlek (R) | Yes |
| H 2 | Ross Diercks (D) | No |
| S 2 | Jim Anderson (R) | |
| H 5 | James C. Hageman (R) | Yes |
| H 6 | Dave Edwards (R) | Yes |
| S 3 | Curt Meier (R) | |
| H 3 | Deborah Alden (R) | No |
| H 4 | Edward A. Buchanan (R) | No |
| Sheridan-Area Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 21 | Bruce Burns (R) | |
| H 29 | Jerry Iekel (R) | Yes |
| H 51 | Rosie Berger (R) | Yes |
| S 22 | John Schiffer (R) | |
| H 30 | Jack Landon (R) | No |
| H 40 | Doug Osborn (R) | Yes |
| South Central WY Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 9 | Mike Massie (D) | |
| H 13 | Jane Warren (D) | No |
| H 45 | Kevin A. White (R) | No |
| S 10 | Phil Nicholas (R) | |
| H 14 | Kermit C. Brown (R) | Excused |
| H 46 | James Slater (R) | No |
| S 11 | Bill Vasey (D) | |
| H 15 | George Bagby (D) | No |
| H 47 | Kurt Bucholz (R) | Yes |
| Southwest WY Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 12 | Rae Lynn Job (D) | |
| H 48 | Marty Martin (D) | No |
| H 16 | Pete Jorgensen (D) | Yes |
| S 13 | Tex Boggs (D) | |
| H 17 | Stephen Watt (R) | Excused |
| H 60 | Bill Thompson (D) | No |
| S 14 | Stan Cooper (R) | |
| H 18 | Mick Powers (R) | No |
| H 39 | John Hastert (D) | No |
| S 15 | Ken Decaria (D) | |
| H 19 | Owen Petersen (R) | No |
| H 49 | Bruce Barnard (R) | No |
| West Central WY Legislators | House CoW |
|
| S 16 | Pat Aullman (R) | |
| H 20 | Kathy Davison (R) | No |
| H 21 | Randall Luthi (R) | No |
| S 17 | Grant Larson (R) | |
| H 22 | Monte Olsen (R) | Excused |
| H 23 | Keith Gingery (R) | No |
See Southwest Region for H 16 and S 12 | ||