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Brian Vastag

JAMA. 2003;290:590.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 145 words of the full text and any section headings.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved a bill aimed at preventing medical errors, but the bill was expected to face an uphill battle on the Senate floor.

Democrats said they want to ensure that the public will be able to access data collected under the bill's provisions.

That concern was raised by the House bill, which passed in March. That bill authorizes $25 million annually in grants to health care providers for projects to track and improve safety.

The House bill also provides for voluntary physician reporting of errors to databases created by new "patient safety organizations." These organizations would then analyze the data and report trends to health professionals.

Democrats, including those on the key HELP Committee, said they want patients and lawyers to have access to the raw data. As of press time, the matter was unresolved.

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