ALBANY-The state Legislature on Wednesday passed a scaled-back version of Lavern's Law, which seeks to change the statute of limitations on medical malpractice lawsuits to give some victims more time to file complaints and seek restitution.

The bill (S.6800/A.8516), approved by the State Senate earlier in the day and cleared the Assembly, would start the clock on when patients can bring medical malpractice cases involving cancers or malignant tumors when the error is discovered by the patient, not when a misdiagnosis occurred, as is currently stipulated under the law.

The latest iteration of Lavern's Law pits two perennial lobbying powerhouses—the trial lawyers and Greater New York Hospital Associationagainst each other. Both the hospital association, which opposes the bill, and the trial lawyers, which support it, were among the top 10 campaign donors in 2016, according to the Board of Elections, donating $1.4 million and $1.18 million, respectively.