CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Blanket immunity in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer offered in a bill moving through the legislature.
The House of Delegates amended SB 277 Tuesday to include limited provisions in which lawsuits could be filed.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Moore Capito, R-Kanawha, gained approval for an amendment that would allow medical malpractice claims to be filed if a judge determines the claims had nothing to do with the pandemic even though it happened during the pandemic.
“The amendment provides protections for injuries that occurred unrelated to the COVID-19 crisis,” Capito told MetroNews. “It may have happened during the crisis but were unrelated to the circumstances surrounding the pandemic.”
The second part of the amendment would permit claims to be filed if there was intentional conduct with malice in connection with the pandemic.
Capito said the bill now strikes a balance.
“Our business in West Virginia, both small and large, want to get open and want to do so with a predictable environment but we also, I think, recognize the importance of providing adequate, fair, responsible protections to West Virginians,” Capito said.
The Senate passed the bill on a 25-9 vote on Feb. 19. That version provided “blanket immunity from any claim filed against “any person, essential business, business, entity, health care facility, health care provider, first responder, or volunteer for loss, damage, physical injury or death arising from COVID-19, COVID-19 care, or impacted care.”
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, said during an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline” last week that the House was going to change the bill to at least include the “intentional” provision.
Del. Chad Lovejoy, D-Cabell, said during Tuesday’s floor debate the bill still goes too far. He said it’s going to let some nursing homes and long-term care facilities off the hook.
“There are facilities out there, way before COVID, that had chronic understaffing problems, had lack of infection controls and then a pandemic came and people died. I’m not going to give immunity to them, I don’t think it’s right,” Lovejoy said.
If the House passes the bill Wednesday it will head back to the Senate. Capito said he hopes senators agree to the changes.
“I think we’ve made it a better piece of legislation. I think we’ve kind of come up with a nice balance here to provide protections here for both our businesses and West Virginians,” he said.
The provisions of the bill are retroactive to Jan. 1, 2020.