Tuesday, February 25, 1992
J (EtjetOasijinutonJJot
Weather/Obituaries/Comics Cl';
5t . ■■ . .
]
VI
[El
I
ГЛ
^ CfQ 1
J ~
У7
i
Va. Assembly Imp;
isse
Derails Millions in Bond Proposals ?
to
Беа
the Clock
\h. Implant Victims Want More Time to Sue
Arlington resident Jacqueline
B. Clark considers herself “one of
the lucky ones who just made it
under the wire” in suing a breast
implant manufacturer last May.
Her neighbor, she says, was not
as fortunate, discovering too late
that her illness was caused by a
leaking silicone implant.
“Had she lived 10 minutes
away in the District,” Clark said
at a news conference last week in
Richmond, “she could have sued
the manufacturer.”
Virginia law requires that
product liability injury claims be
filed within two years of the date
of an injury, even if the person is
unaware of the injury.
Across the Potomac, in the Dis¬
trict and Maryland, a three-year
statute of limitations on personal
injury actions doesn’t start running
until the cause of the problem has
been determined. Eighteen other
states have a similar law.
That’s a critical difference
when it comes to implants, Clark
said, because defective implant
prostheses often go undetected
for years.
Clark is supporting legislation
that would bring Virginia more
into line with its neighboring ju¬
risdictions by setting the deadline
for filing suit at two years from
the date a physician identifies the
cause of an illness rather than
from the onset of the illness.
Fairfax lawyer Jerry M. Phillips,
who represents Clark and other
women with implant problems,
estimates that about 1,000 Vir¬
ginia women will be barred from
bringing legal action unless the
Virginia General Assembly ap¬
proves legislation sponsored by
Del. Gladys B. Keating (D-
Franconia).
Keating’s bill sailed through
See IMPLANT, C6, CoL 3
Funding for Higher Education, Transportation Defeated
By John Ward Anderson
and Donald P. Baker
Washington Post Suff Writer*
RICHMOND, Feb. 24— The Vir-
ginia General Assembly killed bond-
issue proposals today that would
have provided hundreds of millions
of dollars for higher education,
transportation and other public im¬
provements.
Because of the continuing reces¬
sion, the bond proposals were con¬
sidered the most important legis¬
lation facing the assembly this year.
Their defeat, which came when the
Senate and House of Delegates re¬
fused to give ground on competing
bills before a midnight deadline, set
off an effort to find a way to revive
bond legislation in the 12 days re¬
maining in the session.
The plan the House favored
would have provided for bond issues
to raise more than $233 million for
Northern Virginia transportation
improvements — including $80 mil¬
lion for the Fairfax Parkway and
about $50 million for the Spring-
field-Franconia Metro station. Both
House and Senate versions pro¬
posed more than $50 million for
new buildings at George Mason
University and Northern Virginia
Community College.
The stalemate was caused by the
refusal of two of the assembly's
most powerful members, Senate
Majority Leader Hunter B. An¬
drews and House Majority Leader
C. Richard Cranwell, to budge from
their positions.
"Two very strong characters
played vigorous, showdown poker
to the very end,” said Sen. Jose pit :.7
V. Gartlan Jr. (D — Fairfax), whose
last-minute compromise was'
snubbed by Andrews (D-Hampton).
Sen. Charles L. Waddell (D — .
Loudoun) added, “politics is the art
of compromise, and there wasn’t •
any.” .
Gov. L. Douglas Wilder might be
able to revive the bond proposals,
but he too stood his ground. -
-/
The Senate had backed Wilder's*^
proposal to borrow about $612 mib*i>
lion for projects for the state's coP'—
leges and universities, parks and p
mental health facilities. The House
backed a proposal by Cranwell (D- 1
Vinton) for a half-cent increase in :■
the state sales tax to pay for $1.1 '
billion in projects and a program to
г
See VIRGINIA,
Св,
CoL 1
INSIDE
THE DISTRICT
1 wr
D.C. Is Offered
An Ambulance
Alternative
Association Wants to Take Over
City’s Much-Maligned Service
>>****»*
AaM*, M*.
.4*к*ил**ч
