Dr. David Fiore testifies Friday before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Carson City, telling lawmakers that it's important for doctors to be able to say "I'm sorry" to patients or their families when medical procedures fail to produce the desired effect. Photo by The Associated Press

CARSON CITY -- Dr. David Fiore, chief of staff at Renown Medical Center, said hardly a day goes by when he doesn't regret that he did not express his sorrow to a family whose 2-year-old died while under his care more than 20 years ago.

"I was devastated," Fiore told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I wanted to contact the family and say 'I'm sorry.' I thought about quitting."

He and a line of other physicians testified Friday in favor of Senate Bill 174, legislation that would allow doctors and other health care provides to express sympathy to patients and their families when operations or other treatments fail.

Under the bill, physicians even could say they were at fault, but none of such comments could be used against them in lawsuits brought for medical negligence.

Sen. Joe Heck, R-Henderson, proposed the "I'm sorry" bill, as he dubbed it. Heck, a physician, said 29 states now have similar laws.

"This will allow physicians to acknowledge they made mistakes and apologize," he said. "The apology cannot be used against them (in court)."

Heck said that often the patient is angry and an apology can improve his or her mental outlook. Many times after an apology is given, the patient will not file a lawsuit, he added.

Only one person, Nevada Trial Lawyer Association lobbyist Bill Bradley, testified against the bill, which must be passed out of the committee by April 13 or be declared dead for the remainder of the legislative session.

Bradley questioned how a patient who has received an apology will feel a year later in a courtroom when a physician denies making such a statement.

He added, "The deck already is tremendously stacked against victims of medical negligence" after the Legislature passed a law in 2002 that limits non-economic damages to $350,000. He also said he believed an "I'm sorry" apology already is inadmissible in lawsuit.

"I've never had a case where it came up in court," added Bradley, noting that he has handled medical malpractice cases for 25 years.

He said he doubted that medical malpractice insurance companies would allow doctors to say "I'm sorry" even with such a law.

Bradley also questioned whether doctors would fake apologies and say "I'm sorry' long after a traumatic medical event as a way to get out of a lawsuit.

Heck said he thought apologies should be "extemporaneous," not months after the fact, and he would support amendments to insert that language.

In response to Bradley, he said apologies by physicians would be inadmissible in court, so there never would be a situation in which a physician would have to deny making such statements.

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, questioned why physicians did not mention the need for an "I'm sorry" law five years ago when the Legislature reduced medical malpractice awards in a special session.

"This debate should have been part of it," he said. "We were told then all lawsuits were frivolous. Today we are hearing doctors do make mistakes."

Las Vegas Dr. Warren Volker noted that Premier Physician Insurance Co., formed by doctors to write malpractice insurance, already encourages its members to express sympathy.

Volker added that as a young physician he delivered a stillborn baby.

"It was nobody's fault, but the parents were devastated, and I as well. I consoled them. I told them how very, very sorry I felt for their loss."

But he said his supervisors found out what he did and chastised him.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, did not take an immediate vote on the bill.