June 3, 2003

A quirk in New York State law, a $140 million malpractice judgment and a recent ruling by the state's highest court have hospitals and insurers saying that malpractice premiums for hospitals are about to soar, and they are petitioning the Legislature to change the law. In a suit filed on behalf of a child who suffered permanent brain damage after surgery, a Manhattan jury found New York-Presbyterian Hospital liable for $40 million in damages over the child's expected life span. But a 1985 state law required the judge in the case to increase that verdict to $140 million -- one of the largest malpractice awards ever made by a New York court. It was a stark reversal of the frequent pattern nationally of judges' reducing large jury awards.

Boeing and Airbus battle over who will supply aircraft to Latin America's largest-by-far airline that will be created by merger of Brazil's two leading carriers, Varig and TAM; Boeing, traditonally dominant in region, supplies ailing Varig, while Airbus supplies TAM (M)

State leaders generally agree that laws regulating rents in more than one million apartments in New York City should be renewed as is; are said to lack lack political stomach to do more after squeezing out difficult budget; whatever drama there will be before expiration of laws on June 15 will likely revolve around vacancy decontrol, which allows property owners to eliminate rent regulations on some vacant apartments when their rents reach $2,000 a month (M)

Onetime Mexican conglomerate Savia will sell 75 percent of its Seminis division, world's largest producer of fruit and vegetable seeds, to Fox Paine & Co for $260 million; photo (S)

Hollywood writers and producers said yesterday's decision by the Federal Communications Commission to relax media ownership rules would damage the quality and creativity of network television by concentrating program development into fewer and fewer hands. Several groups, including unions representing television writers and directors, renewed calls for new limits on how many programs the major networks can own. They said they would try to make their case heard in the coming weeks.