For 37 years, Bowling Green physician Jerry Martin has fought for the best interests of his patients. In June, that involved a trip to Chicago to represent the American Academy of Family Physicians as a delegate to the American Medical Association in pursuit of a patients bill of rights. Martin said he agrees and disagrees with some efforts and intentions by President Bush and hopes a patients bill of rights, which represents years of work by politicians and doctors, will become a reality. The U.S. Senate passed a patients bill of rights Friday, but President Bush has threatened to not sign the bill. Martin favors lawsuits when someone has been wronged, but hopes that caps on damages will maintain the patients best interests. I hope the House will put some limits on it, and if it does I think this is something that patients and the whole American public will benefit from, Martin said. If there are no limits on it, this will be a trial lawyers field day. Currently, patients do not have any recourse against HMOs and the bill would allow them the respect and power they need and deserve, he said. I think the Senate did a pretty good job and something like this is what the AMA has been pushing for a long time, he said. Glenn Lohr, a professor in the Department of Public Health at Western Kentucky University, said he is generally in favor of the idea of a patients bill of rights. While Lohr said he understands how some lawsuits and rulings can lead to multi-million dollar judgments, many times those lawsuits are for legitimate wrongs against patients. Lohr views the caps on punitive damages of $4 million or $5 million a compromise that both sides should agree upon. The Senate bill would allow for punitive damages of up to $5 million; the House GOP would allow none. The Senate bill says there are no limits to pain and suffering awards; the House GOP caps such awards by a judge or jury to $500,000.I think people should not lose the right for redress in the courts when theres a serious injury, Lohr said. Id hate to see us lose that right. The Kentucky Medical Association which includes 5,000 physicians encouraged physicians and patients to contact legislators to urge passage of a bill of rights. The AMA did not support legislation recently introduced by Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., because it believes it fell short of protecting patients, but provided several added benefits for health maintenance organizations, according to the KMAs Web site. Meanwhile, Bush is hoping House Republicans will develop a bill to discourage the efforts of trial lawyers, whom many Republicans believe encourage litigation and raise the rates of health care following large punitive damage settlements. Much of the debate and votes in Washington are gridlocked from the special interest groups that John McCain, R-Ariz., criticized for allowing trail lawyers to influence the Democrats and the HMOs and insurance companies to influence the Republicans in the contentious debate. The Associated Press contributed some information for this article.