Molly Hennessy-Fiske

LOS ANGELES -- Two years ago last week, Olivia Cull, 17, was taken off life support. The standout student -- who planned to study classics at Smith College -- had slipped into a coma during a routine, outpatient procedure at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA in Westwood.

The story of her death was presented to Congress a few days ago, among cases cited by patient advocates pushing to lift the caps on damages for medical malpractice lawsuits.

As lawmakers search for ways to trim health care costs, debate continues over the country's medical malpractice laws. Physician groups say caps limit frivolous lawsuits that can drive good doctors out of business. But patients and their families argue that limits on payouts diminish accountability, making it hard to find lawyers to take cases and force full disclosure from doctors.

LOS ANGELES -- The baby boy lay motionless at the center of the windowless operating room. The room gleamed under fluorescent lights that illuminated the wisps of blond hair lining his scalp.

Inside Dylan Catania's skull, nerves were misfiring.

The right half of his brain was larger than the left, and malformed. The condition, extremely rare, was causing as many as 100 epileptic seizures a day.

To save their son's mind, Dylan's parents had agreed to the unthinkable: an operation to sever half his brain.