Tort reform was a major issue on Capitol Hill Tuesday as the main House sponsor for a bill that will cap damages in medical malpractice cases revealed that both the House of Representatives and the Senate could vote on the legislation by the end of March. At an address at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Rep. James Greenwood (R-Pa.) urged lawmakers to pass the President Bush-endorsed bill, known as the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost Timely Health Care (HEALTH) Act.

Physicians and a majority of Republican politicians blame doctors' soaring insurance premiums on large medical malpractice verdicts. Trial attorneys and most democrats, however, say the insurance crisis is due to the economy's cycle, physicians who err and poor investments made by insurance companies. Greenwood admitted that the bill's passage in the now GOP-controlled Senate and even the House would be difficult.

Also on Tuesday, several victims of medical malpractice ventured to Capitol Hill to protest the potential legislation. According to the victims, who included a woman who mistakenly had a double mastectomy when her biopsy results were mixed up with another patient, instituting a $250,000 cap on damage awards for "pain and suffering" is unfair and would not fully compensate a victim for the remainder of his or her life.