It is imperative to reform Pennsylvania's legal system in order to protect access to high quality medical care for all Pennsylvanians, said Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) President-elect Marilyn Heine, MD, at a news conference at the state Capitol on March 28, 2011.
According to a recent statewide survey of 800 registered voters, which was released earlier in March and highlighted at the news conference, 82 percent believe that lawsuits against hospitals, physicians, and other medical professionals have a big impact on the costs of providing medical care and other health care services to patients.
“Personal injury lawyers have skillfully changed the way Americans view personal responsibility,” said Dr. Heine. “They have convinced many that when something doesn’t go the way they’d like, that ‘they’ve been injured’ and someone else is to blame. It’s taking its toll on physicians and our patients.”
Other key findings of the survey include:
- 67 percent believe that lawsuits against businesses and employers have a significant impact on the costs of goods, services, and products for consumers.
- 75 percent believe state government needs to do more to improve Pennsylvania’s overall legal climate.
- 54 percent believe the number of lawsuits in Pennsylvania is too high.
- 84 percent believe that physicians and other medical professionals should be allowed to express sympathy or personally apologize to a patient for unintended outcomes on a medical procedure, without fear of having these statement used against them in a court of law.
PAMED has been a long-time advocate for medical liability reforms, and has been successful in getting a number of reforms passed in Pennsylvania. The reforms included in Act 13 of 2002 helped create a significantly improved climate for physicians and hospitals to provide quality medical care.
House Bill 495, which passed the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 15, 2011, would allow health care providers and patients to have a full and open conversation after an unforeseen outcome without fear that anything said by the provider would be used against them in a medical liability lawsuit.
PAMED also supports H.R. 5, the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011, a federal bipartisan bill that includes reforms intended to repair the flawed medical liability system, reduce the increase of health care costs, and safeguard patients’ access to medical care.
“Broad-based liability reform in Pennsylvania is good for all Pennsylvanians,” concluded Dr. Heine. “I respectfully ask our legislature to do the right thing. For the better health of all Pennsylvanians, restore common sense to our legal system.”