[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1907 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1907

   To require that the Department of Veterans Affairs adjudicate and 
 resolve certain claims relating to medical malpractice in the health 
               care services provided by the Department.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             March 8, (legislative day, February 22), 1994

 Mr. Rockefeller (for himself, Mr. Graham, and Mr. Daschle) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                          on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require that the Department of Veterans Affairs adjudicate and 
 resolve certain claims relating to medical malpractice in the health 
               care services provided by the Department.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ADJUDICATION AND RESOLUTION OF CERTAIN CLAIMS RELATING TO 
              MEDICAL MALPRACTICE.

    (a) Adjudication and Resolution of Claims.--The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall--
            (1) take appropriate actions to determine whether the 
        injury (or aggravation of an injury) of any veteran as the 
        result of the treatment of the veteran was the result of 
        medical malpractice on the part of the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs (and not of the veteran's own willful misconduct); and
            (2) in the case of any injury so determined, provide 
        appropriate compensation to the veteran in accordance with 
        section 1151 of title 38, United States Code.
    (b) Statement of Intent and Construction.--Congress enacts the 
requirement set forth in subsection (a) in order to ensure the 
adjudication and resolution of certain claims following the decision in 
Gardner v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 584 (1991), aff'd, sub nom. Gardner v. 
Brown, 5 F.3d 1456 (Fed. Cir. 1993). The requirement may not be 
construed as an expression of Congressional intent to limit the claims 
subject to adjudication under section 1151 of title 38, United States 
Code, to claims related to injuries resulting from medical malpractice.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) The term ``treatment'', in the case of a veteran, means 
        any examination, hospitalization, medical or surgical 
        treatment, or course of vocational rehabilitation under chapter 
        31 of title 38, United States Code, that is provided to the 
        veteran by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
            (2) The term ``medical malpractice'' means any 
        carelessness, negligence, error in judgment, lack of proper 
        medical skill, or similar instance of indicated fault in the 
        treatment of a veteran.

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