Television advertisements both in support of and against a bill (HR 5) to be debated on the House floor this week that would limit lawsuit awards in medical malpractice cases have begun airing in the Washington, D.C., area, AP/Long Island Newsday reports. A commercial sponsored by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America in opposition to the bill features Linda McDougal, a Wisconsin woman who underwent a double mastectomy after a misdiagnosis of breast cancer. Another commercial, sponsored by the American Hospital Association, features Leanne Dyess, who says her husband did not receive prompt emergency care after a car accident because "[l]awsuits against doctors ... have made it too expensive for them to practice." Carlton Carl, spokesperson for the ATLA, said the ads are designed to show that the legislation would "penalize the patients most seriously injured by medical malpractice." However, Kristen Morris, spokesperson for the AHA, said "access to health care is being impeded because of the escalating costs of medical liability" (Espo, AP/Long Island Newsday, 3/10). In addition, the Health Coalition on Liability and Access, a group that represents physicians, hospitals and insurers, this week began a radio ad campaign on two Washington-area stations in support of the legislation (CongressDaily/AM, 3/11). Last week, both the House Energy and Commerce and Judiciary committees approved the bill introduced by Rep. James Greenwood (R-Pa.), which would cap noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits against physicians, HMOs, pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies at $250,000 and would allow punitive damages of $250,000 or twice the amount of economic damages, whichever is higher. The bill, which President Bush supports, is expected to pass in the House, but it may face challenges in the Senate, where some members of both parties have called for an exemption for "egregious" cases of malpractice (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/7). The ad campaigns will likely extend to areas outside the Washington, D.C., area to target "key lawmakers" as the debate moves to the Senate, CongressDaily/AM reports (CongressDaily/AM, 3/11).