Senate Bill No. 160
(By Senators McKenzie, Bowman, Deem, Minard,
Sharpe, Facemyer, Anderson and Ross)
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[Introduced January 10, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated
section twenty-one, relating to limiting the liability of
physicians who render services without remuneration to
indigent individuals in need of medical services.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-one, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7.ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-21. Liability of physicians who render medical services
without remuneration to indigent individuals.
(a) Any person licensed to practice medicine and surgery
pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter thirty of
this code or any person licensed to practice medicine and
surgery as an osteopathic physician and surgeon pursuant to the
provisions of article fourteen, chapter thirty of this code:
(1) Who renders medical services, without remuneration, to an
indigent individual is acting in the capacity of a volunteer
physician; and (2) who gratuitously and in good faith prior to
rendering medical services to indigent individuals, without
objection of such indigent individuals, shall not be held liable
for any civil damages as a result of such care or treatment.
(b) The limitation of liability established by the
provisions of this section shall not apply to acts or omissions
constituting gross negligence. For purposes of this section,
the term "indigent" means a person who is without the monetary
resources to obtain medical services.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow physicians to
render medical services to indigent individuals without fear of
civil liability. This liability limitation will not apply to
acts or omissions constituting gross negligence.
This section is new, therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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