BOSTON - Those wrongfully convicted of a crime in Massachusetts can now sue the state for up to $500,000 under one of 19 bills signed into law Thursday by Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey.

Other bills signed Thursday would let school children administer their own diabetes medicine and partially ease new regulations requiring oil barges to use tugboat escorts.

Healey, acting on behalf of Gov. Mitt Romney while he was on vacation, also sent a handful of bills back to lawmakers with proposed changes, including a bill designed to crack down on those who stage car accidents to collect insurance money.

To be eligible under the wrongful conviction law, a person must have served time in jail. He or she must have received a pardon by the governor with a statement of belief of innocence, or had his or her conviction overturned or dismissed by a court.

The person must also show he or she did not commit the crimes for which he or she was imprisoned. The bill applies retroactively to anyone wrongfully convicted in Massachusetts. The amount of money is based on the length of the prison sentence and the income the person would have earned.

Shawn Drumgold, 39, who served 15 years for the 1988 murder of Darlene Tiffany Moore in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, said he hopes to use the new law to rebuild his life. His conviction was overturned after prosecutors asked for his release citing new evidence and flaws in the original case.

Drumgold said he had few resources when he was released. He said he would use any money he is awarded to buy a home and start a business.

"When I first came home there was no help," he said. "It's like you're a freeloader."

Drumgold said the law should have included sanctions against police who knowingly pursue the wrong person.

State Rep. Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, began pushing for the bill after meeting with men like Drumgold who spent years behind bars before being proven innocent. During the past two decades in Massachusetts, over 20 individuals have been freed after evidence determined they were innocent.

"If the state takes your property, they need to pay you. In this case the state took some of the best years of their lives," she said. "It's a matter of simple justice."

In addition to money, the wrongfully convicted are also eligible for a tuition break at state colleges and services to help them overcome emotional or physical difficulties resulting from their imprisonment.

The new diabetes law bars school districts from prohibiting students with diabetes from monitoring their glucose at school and giving themselves insulin shots.

The tugboat law lets the commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection issue special waivers to allow oil barges into Buzzard's Bay without tugboat escorts.

Lawmakers approved a bill requiring the escorts after a major oil spill in Buzzards Bay last year. But there aren't enough tugboats to keep up with demand and the waivers are needed to avoid oil shortages, lawmakers said.

Healey sent back to lawmakers a bill targeting those who stage car accidents to bilk insurers. The bill would toughen oversight of doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists to make sure they aren't fraudulently billing insurers for unnecessary treatment.

Healey said language in the bill inadvertently weakens that oversight. She sent a corrected version back to lawmakers who quickly agreed to the new language.

The auto insurance fraud problems got the attention of lawmakers when since a 65-year-old grandmother died last year in what authorities said was a staged car crash.

In September, 16 people, including three lawyers and four chiropractors, were indicted by a special grand jury in Essex County for their alleged involvement in auto insurance fraud in Lawrence.