HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers are giving doctors and other health care professionals wider latitude to apologize or offer expressions of grief without it coming back to haunt them in civil litigation.

The state House voted unanimously on Tuesday to send to Gov. Tom Corbett a bill that immunizes medical professionals from the negative consequences of what it describes as “benevolent gestures.”

The protections will not apply if the apology or other gesture includes an acknowledgment of negligence or fault.

The goal is to cut down on medical malpractice lawsuits. Supporters say 29 states have passed immunity from apology laws.

Ex-school officer sentenced to prisonPITTSBURGH — A former Pittsburgh Public Schools police officer will serve 32 to 64 years in prison for molesting four boys in the late 1990s.Allegheny County Judge Donna Jo McDaniel called 44-year-old Robert Lellock a sexually violent predator and a danger to the community before imposing the lengthy sentence on Tuesday.Lellock was found guilty in July for crimes that happened during the 1998-99 school year.Prosecutors said Lellock pulled the boys from class at Arthur J. Rooney Middle School, took them into a janitor’s closet and molested them.Defense attorney Timothy Kidd said Lellock will be appointed a public defender and will likely appeal his conviction.

Lt. governor spends night in hospitalHARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor is going home with a prescription for blood pressure medication after a spell of lightheadedness landed him in the hospital for the night.Lt. Jim Cawley’s office said he was discharged from Harrisburg Hospital at about 3 p.m. Tuesday.Cawley’s office says he had elevated blood pressure and an increased heart rate. He was presiding over the state Senate on Monday when he began to feel ill. He was taken to the hospital after a Capitol nurse looked at him.Cawley, 44, plans to work from home for a few days and hopes to resume his normal schedule next week.