scribed in subsection (h) in actions described in
such subsection.
(2) EFFECT
ON
SOVEREIGN
IMMUNITY
AND
CHOICE OF LAW OR VENUE.—Nothing in paragraph
(1) shall be construed to—
(A) waive or affect any defense of sov-
ereign immunity asserted by any State under
any provision of law;
(B) waive or affect any defense of sov-
ereign immunity asserted by the United States;
(C) affect the applicability of any provision
of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of
1976;
(D) preempt State choice-of-law rules with
respect to claims brought by a foreign nation or
a citizen of a foreign nation; or
(E) affect the right of any court to trans-
fer venue or to apply the law of a foreign nation
or to dismiss a claim of a foreign nation or of
a citizen of a foreign nation on the ground of
inconvenient forum.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION SYS-
TEM; ADR.—The term ‘‘alternative dispute resolution
system’’ or ‘‘ADR’’ means a system established by
a State that provides for the resolution of medical
malpractice liability claims in a manner other than
through medical malpractice liability actions.
(2) CLAIMANT.—The term ‘‘claimant’’ means
any person who alleges a medical malpractice liabil-
ity claim, or, in the case of an individual who is de-
ceased, incompetent, or a minor, the person on
whose behalf such a claim is alleged.
(3) ECONOMIC DAMAGES.—The term ‘‘economic
damages’’ means damages paid to compensate an in-
dividual for losses for hospital and other medical ex-
penses, lost wages, lost employment, and other pecu-
niary losses.
(4) HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL.—The term
‘‘health care professional’’ means any individual who
provides health care services in a State and who is
required by State law or regulation to be licensed or
certified by the State to provide such services in the
State.
(5) HEALTH
CARE
PROVIDER.—The term
‘‘health care provider’’ means any organization or
institution that is engaged in the delivery of health
care services in a State and that is required by State
law or regulation to be licensed or certified by the
State to engage in the delivery of such services in
the State.
(6) INJURY.—The term ‘‘injury’’ means any ill-
ness, disease, or other harm that is the subject of
a medical malpractice liability action or claim.
(7) MEDICAL
MALPRACTICE
LIABILITY
AC-
TION.—The term ‘‘medical malpractice liability ac-
tion’’ means a civil action (other than an action in
which the plaintiff’s sole allegation is an allegation
of an intentional tort) brought in a State or Federal
court against a health care provider or health care
professional (regardless of the theory of liability on
which the action is based) in which the plaintiff al-
leges a medical malpractice liability claim.
(8) 
MEDICAL
MALPRACTICE
LIABILITY
CLAIM.—The term ‘‘medical malpractice liability
claim’’ means a claim in which the claimant alleges
that injury was caused by the provision of (or the
failure to provide) health care services.
(9) MEDICAL
PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘medical
product’’ means a device (as defined in section
201(h) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act) or a drug (as defined in section 201(g)(1) of
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act).
(10) 
NONECONOMIC
DAMAGES.—The 
term
‘‘noneconomic damages’’ means damages paid to
compensate an individual for losses for physical and
emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical
impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of
enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, and other
nonpecuniary losses, but does not include punitive
damages.
(11) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’
means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of
the several States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
Guam, and American Samoa.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall apply to claims accruing on or after
January 1, 1994.
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HR 1989 IH——3