Product liability House/Senate conference unlikely until next year.
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
PRODUCT LIABILITY HOUSE/SENATE CONFERENCE NOT LIKELY UNTIL NEXT YEAR due to Senate leadership concerns that attempting recon-ciliation now would result in a conference bill that retains much of the character of the House's more rigorous version. The House version (HR 956), passed March 10, differs from the Senate legislation (S 565), approved May 10, in that it includes both an FDA defense and a cap of non-economic ("pain and suffering") damages at $250,000 for health care lawsuits which would supersede state laws that set a higher cap on non-economic damage awards.