ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 3174
(By Delegate Amores)
[Passed April 9, 2005; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §55-7-11a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the admissibility of expressions
of apology, sympathy, commiseration, condolence, compassion or
general sense of benevolence made by a healthcare provider to
a patient, or relatives or representatives of the patient;
inadmissability of statements as evidence of admission of
liability; and definition of terms.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §55-7-11a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-11a. Settlement, release or statement within twenty days
after personal injury; disavowal; certain
expressions of sympathy inadmissible as evidence.
(a) If a person sustains a personal injury, no person shall within twenty days from the date of the personal injury while the
injured person is either: (i) An inpatient in any hospital; or
(ii) partially or totally unable to engage in his or her usual
trade, profession or occupation:
(1) Negotiate or attempt to negotiate a settlement of any
claim for such personal injury with or for and on behalf of the
injured person;
(2) Obtain or attempt to obtain from the injured person a
partial or general release of liability for such injury; or
(3) Obtain or attempt to obtain any statement, either written
or oral, from the injured person for use in negotiating a
settlement or obtaining a partial or general release of liability
with respect to the personal injury: Provided, That nothing herein
shall prohibit a person acting or intending to act for and on
behalf of the injured person from obtaining any statement, oral or
written, from an injured person upon the express request of the
injured person.
Nothing herein shall prevent a person who may be liable for
damages on account of the personal injury from making an advance
payment of all or any part of his or her liability for the damages;
any sum paid during the twenty days by a person liable for damages
on account of the personal injury is allowed as full credit against
any damages which may be finally determined to be due an injured
person.
Any settlement, release of liability or statement entered into, obtained or made in violation of this section may be
disavowed by the injured person at any time within one hundred
eighty days from the date of the personal injury by executing a
written statement of disavowal and thereupon forwarding a copy of
the same to the person violating this section, in which event the
settlement, release or statement may not be admissible in evidence
for any purpose in any court or other proceeding relating to the
personal injury, if any consideration paid for the settlement of or
the general release of liability for the personal injury, at the
time of the forwarding of the copy of the written statement of
disavowal, is repaid or returned to the person who paid the
consideration.
(b) (1) No statement, affirmation, gesture or conduct of a
healthcare provider who provided healthcare services to a patient,
expressing apology, sympathy, commiseration, condolence, compassion
or a general sense of benevolence, to the patient, a relative of
the patient or a representative of the patient and which relate to
the discomfort, pain, suffering, injury or death of the patient
shall be admissible as evidence of an admission of liability or as
evidence of an admission against interest in any civil action
brought under the provisions of article seven-b, chapter fifty-five
of this code, or in any arbitration, mediation or other alternative
dispute resolution proceeding related to such civil action.
(2) Terms not otherwise defined in this section have the
meanings assigned to them in article seven-b, chapter fifty-five of this code. For purposes of this section, unless the context
otherwise requires, "relative" means a spouse, parent, grandparent,
stepfather, stepmother, child, grandchild, brother, sister,
half-brother, half-sister or spouse's parents. The term includes
said relationships that are created as a result of adoption. In
addition, "relative" includes any person who has a family-type
relationship with a patient.