Arkansas measure to cap jury awards in medical suits headed to November ballots

LITTLE ROCK -- Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment to limit damages in medical lawsuits and attorney contingency fees have met the signature threshold to place the measure on the November ballot, the secretary of state's office said Friday.

In a letter to Little Rock lawyer Dan Greenberg, Director of Elections Leslie Bellamy said the secretary of state's office determined that at least 92,997 of the signatures submitted in support of the measure are valid. Supporters needed 84,859 signatures for ballot access.

If approved by voters, the measure would direct the state Legislature to set a cap of no less than $250,000 on non-economic damages against health-care providers and limit trial lawyer's contingency fees to 33 1/3 percent.

"We, along with Arkansans from every corner of this state, are pleased this amendment has made the ballot this November," Chase Dugger of Beebe, executive director of the ballot question committee Health Care Access for Arkansans, said in a statement Friday.

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