Part one of a three-part series.

There is a battle being fought at the highest levels of government over your right to file a medical malpractice or defective drug lawsuit. On the one hand are pro-business groups that seek protection from crippling multi-million dollar jury awards. On the other hand are pro-consumer groups that work to restore a person's right to a full and fair trial of his or her case.

The business lobbies have dominated your elected senators and representatives, pushing through laws that:

• Limit your access to get into court

• Restrict the types of claims you can assert once you're in court

• Cap the recoveries you can obtain in court

On the federal level, a well-known example is H.R.5, a measure in Congress named the HEALTH bill, which seeks to cap non-economic damages at $250,000 and would shield pharmaceutical and medical device makers from punitive damages.

Similarly, on the state level, Wisconsin Senate Bill 13 would protect drug makers and medical device manufacturers from responsibility for defects in their products as long as the product was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The elected officials who support these measures claim they are creating jobs and improving consumer access to health care services. However, the legislation accomplishes its goals by cutting away the rights of consumers to file legal claims against negligent doctors and makers of defective drugs.

Please see full article below for more information.