Nevada High Court Denies Bid To Block Doctors' Initiative
By Associated Press - August 25, 2004CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) _ The Nevada Supreme Court has declined to reject a November ballot proposal being pushed by doctors who want medical malpractice reforms tougher than those adopted by the Legislature in 2002.
The court ruled Tuesday against a petition filed by lawyers for the guardians of two medical malpractice victims, the Nevada State AFL-CIO, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, the Rev. John Auer III, the National Organization for Women and the Nevada Young Activist Project.
The petitioners argued the "Keep Our Doctors in Nevada'' initiative violates both state and federal constitutions and misleads voters because it lacks information necessary to understand its impact.
The secretary of state validated the initiative in December 2002, and the 2003 Legislature failed to act on it. That advanced the proposal to this November's ballot.
"Petitioners present no reason or excuse for why they waited more than a year since it became apparent that the initiative would appear on the November 2004 ballot to file this petition and instead filed it only two weeks before ballots are scheduled to be printed,'' the high court wrote.
"We are not persuaded that we should intervene in these circumstances, especially when petitioners' tardiness caused the emergency and they have offered no explanation for why they are so late in seeking relief,'' justices added.
Lawmakers in 2002 approved a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases but included some exceptions to the limit.
Doctors qualified their proposal for the November ballot because they didn't believe the Legislature went far enough.
The doctors' measure, if approved by voters, would remove all exemptions to the $350,000 cap and would limit attorney fees.
If approved by voters, it would supersede the 2002 reform passed by the Legislature in efforts to stop doctors from leaving the state because of skyrocketing malpractice insurance rates. | 
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