The state House voted yesterday to defeat a Republican motion to free a medical malpractice reform bill from the House Judiciary Committee.

House Democrats said the bill had been heard by two committees and on the House floor during previous debates and did not have enough support to move forward. The bill would have put a $500,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice claims against obstetricians, gynecologists and trauma-care doctors.

House Democrats also said that the bill had been significantly amended from the version that passed in the state Senate, which would have made apologies by doctors for medical errors inadmissible in determining liability in malpractice claims.

The vote on the motion failed in a 33-to-15 vote, with three lawmakers excused. Republicans needed one-third of the House, or 17 votes, to recall the bill from committee.

Gov. Linda Lingle and the Hawai'i Medical Association had urged House lawmakers to move the bill.