II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1885

To limit the liability of certain nonprofit organizations that are providers

of prosthetic devices, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 19, 1996

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. FAIRCLOTH, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr.

HELMS, and Mr. MCCONNELL) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To limit the liability of certain nonprofit organizations that

are providers of prosthetic devices, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prosthetic Limb Ac5 cess Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) over 10,000,000 people in the world are am9 putees, and each year more than 250,000 people be10 come amputees;
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1 (2) thousands of citizens of the United States

2 depend on the availability of prosthetic devices in

3 order to function fully in contemporary society;

4 (3) a sizable number of amputees are unable to

5 afford adequate prosthetic care;

6 (4) used prosthetic devices could be recycled for

7 reuse by amputees in the United States, but, be8 cause of the potential liability of providers of those

9 prosthetic devices, the prosthetic devices are shipped

10 to Third World countries;

11 (5) making recycled prosthetic devices available

12 to economically disadvantaged amputees would en13 able those amputees to live more comfortably and

14 function fully;

15 (6) nonprofit organizations would be uniquely

16 suited to provided recycled prosthetic devices to am17 putees, if they could be enabled to do so in a cost18 efficient manner;

19 (7) in order to enable nonprofit organizations to

20 provide recycled prosthetic devices to amputees in a

21 cost-efficient manner, immediate action is needed

22 to—

23 (A) limit the liability of nonprofit organiza24 tions in serving as providers of recycled pros25 thetic devices; and
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1 (B) minimize the cost of litigation against

2 those providers by establishing expeditious pro3 cedures to dispose of unwarranted actions.

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

5 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

6 shall apply:

7 (1) CLAIMANT.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘claimant’’

9 means any person who brings a civil action, or

10 on whose behalf such action is brought, arising

11 from harm allegedly caused directly or indi12 rectly by a recycled prosthetic device.

13 (B) ACTION BROUGHT ON BEHALF OF AN

14 ESTATE.—With respect to an action arising

15 from harm caused directly or indirectly by a re16 cycled prosthetic device brought on behalf of or

17 through the estate of an individual, such term

18 includes the decedent that is the subject of the

19 action.

20 (2) HARM.—With respect to harm caused by a

21 recycled prosthetic device, the term ‘‘harm’’ includes

22 any physical injury, illness, disease, or death or

23 damage to property caused by that prosthetic device.
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1 (3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term

2 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization that

3 is—

4 (A) described in section 501(c) of the In5 ternal Revenue Code of 1986; and

6 (B) exempt from taxation under section

7 501(a) of such Code.

8 (4) NONPROFIT PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘non9 profit provider’’ means an organization that is—

10 (A) described in section 501(c) of the In11 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt

12 from taxation under section 501(a) of such

13 Code; and

14 (B) established for the purpose of provid15 ing prosthetic devices to economically disadvan16 taged individuals.

17 (5) PRACTITIONER.—The term ‘‘practitioner’’

18 means a health care professional associated with,

19 employed by, under contract with, or representing a

20 nonprofit provider who—

21 (A) is required to be licensed, registered or

22 certified under an applicable Federal or State

23 law (including any applicable regulation) to pro24 vide health care services; or
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1 (B) is certified to provide health care pur2 suant to a program of education, training, and

3 examination by an accredited institution, pro4 fessional board, or professional organization.

5 (6) PROSTHETIC DEVICE.—The term ‘‘pros6 thetic device’’ means a mechanical or other appara7 tus used as an artificial limb for amputees.

8 (7) RECYCLED PROSTHETIC DEVICE.—The

9 term ‘‘recycled prosthetic device’’ means a previously

10 used prosthetic device that—

11 (A) has been reconditioned for use by a

12 different amputee;

13 (B) other than as provided under subpara14 graph (C), has not been materially altered; and

15 (C) if altered, has been altered only with

16 respect to the socket, frame, or any additional

17 materials used to attach the prosthetic device to

18 the amputee.

19 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY; PREEMPTION.

20 (a) APPLICABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other pro21 vision of law, this Act applies to any civil action brought

22 by a claimant in a Federal or State court against a non23 profit provider or practitioner for harm allegedly caused

24 by a recycled prosthetic device or against a nonprofit orga25 nization that made a referral to a provider or practitioner
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1 that involved a recycled prosthetic device that allegedly

2 caused harm.

3 (b) PREEMPTION.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—This Act supersedes any

5 State law (including any rule of procedure) applica6 ble to the recovery of damages in an action brought

7 against a nonprofit provider or practitioner for harm

8 caused by a recycled prosthetic device or against a

9 nonprofit organization described in subsection (a)

10 for such harm.

11 (2) OTHER ISSUES.—Any issue that is not cov12 ered by this Act shall be governed by applicable Fed13 eral or State law.

14 SEC. 5. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY OF NONPROFIT PROVID15 ERS, PRACTITIONERS, AND NONPROFIT OR16 GANIZATIONS THAT MAKE A REFERRAL.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph

18 (2), a nonprofit provider or practitioner or a nonprofit or19 ganization described in section 4(a) shall not be liable for

20 harm to a claimant caused by a recycled prosthetic device.

21 (b) EXCEPTION.—A court shall find a nonprofit pro22 vider or practitioner or a nonprofit organization described

23 in section 4(a) liable for harm caused by a recycled pros24 thetic device only if the claimant establishes that the non25 profit provider or practitioner or nonprofit organization
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1 described in section 4(a) engaged in an intentional wrong2 doing (as determined under applicable State law) that was

3 the proximate cause of such harm.

4 SEC. 6. PROCEDURES FOR DISMISSAL OF CIVIL ACTIONS

5 AGAINST NONPROFIT PROVIDERS, PRACTI6 TIONERS, AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

7 THAT MAKE A REFERRAL.

8 In any action that is subject to this Act, a nonprofit

9 provider or practitioner or a nonprofit organization de10 scribed in section 4(a) who is a defendant in such action,

11 may, at any time during which a motion to dismiss may

12 be filed under applicable Federal or State law, move to

13 dismiss the action.

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