Medical malpractice legislation that Senate Republicans plan to introduce next week will not include liability protections for pharmaceutical and medical device companies, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) said on Thursday, CQ HealthBeat reports. At an American Osteopathic Association rally, Ensign said that the bill would cap total noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits at $750,000 and would cap noneconomic damages for individual health care providers at $250,000. Ensign said that the legislation would establish a "level playing field" for providers nationwide. However, many Senate Democrats and trial attorneys oppose the bill. Ken Suggs, president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, said in a statement that patients who experience malpractice, not providers, are "the ones who were mistreated," adding that "no one was there to utter a word on their behalf, letting people know the one-size-fits-all approach that caps damages for people who are terribly harmed does them an injustice." The House last year approved a bill (HR 5) that would protect pharmaceutical and medical device companies from punitive damages in malpractice lawsuits, provided that FDA had approved their products. The legislation also would cap noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits at $250,000 and would cap punitive damages at two times the amount of economic damages, or $250,000, whichever was higher. In addition, the bill would cap attorney fees in malpractice lawsuits (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 4/27).