PORTLAND - The health care industry has raised $1.6 million to put an initiative on the November ballot to limit attorneys' fees in medical malpractice suits.

The initiative could be among the more expensive in Oregon history, as trial lawyers fight the doctors' attempts to convince the public the attorneys are overpaid.

The money raised so far is an unusually large amount for an initiative that hasn't been approved for signature-gathering, but supporters say they hope to raise more than $4.5 million to sway voters if the proposal makes the ballot.

The campaign committee, Oregonians for Quality, Affordable and Reliable Health Care, proposes to limit attorneys' contingency fees to $100,000 per case of personal injury or wrongful death claims, plus expenses.

Nearly one in five Oregon doctors has stopped or plans to stop providing some services because of high liability insurance, according to a 2003 survey by the Oregon Medical Association.

Premiums have increased dramatically since an Oregon Supreme Court ruling in 1999 struck down a $500,000 cap on noneconomic damage awards that passed in the Legislature, said Paul Phillips, the campaign manager.

"We want to go back to where the system worked so well," said Phillips, a lobbyist with Pac/West Communications.

The Oregon Trial Lawyers Association and others say they don't expect voters to support the proposal.