AN ACT relating to medical malpractice.
     Create new sections of KRS Chapter 454 to require in a civil action alleging medical malpractice as to which expert testimony is necessary that the plaintiff serve upon each defendant with the summons and complaint an affidavit known as a certificate of merit; require the certificate of merit to state that the facts have been reviewed by an expert in whose opinion one or more of the defendants deviated from the applicable standard of care which was a substantial factor in causing injury to the plaintiff; direct the court to dismiss a cause of action if the plaintiff fails to file the certificate of merit; provide that the signature of an attorney or party on a pleading, motion, or other paper constitutes certification that the signed pleading, motion, or other paper is well grounded in fact, warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension or modification or reversal of existing law, and not interposed for any improper purpose; authorize the court to impose an appropriate sanction including payment of other party's expenses, if signed in violation of the section; require all lawsuits involving claims of professional negligence against health care providers to be subject to mediation; require mediation to take place within 90 days after all responsive pleadings are filed, unless the parties obtain a court order extending the time; direct the court to appoint the mediator if parties cannot agree within 20 days after all responsive pleadings are filed; require all agreements reached at mediation to be legally binding; permit the plaintiff to issue interrogatories requesting all defendant's insurance information in an action for medical malpractice; allow the plaintiff to file with the court within 120 days after disclosure of defendant's insurance information a verified acknowledgment that the plaintiff will accept the limits of any available insurance in the payment of any settlement or verdict against the defendant; provide that the acknowledgment binds the plaintiff from the right of collecting any personal assets of the defendant; permit the plaintiff or defendant to file a motion to substitute as the real party in interest any and all liability insurers if the plaintiff files the acknowledgment; provide that upon substitution of the liability insurer as the real party in interest the health care provider who was the original defendant shall not be required to attend the trial, except in response to a subpoena for the purposes of giving testimony.

     Feb 28-introduced in Senate
     Mar 2-to Judiciary (S)