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Orie Commends Commission for Liability Reform
Report
HARRISBURG -- Senator
Jane Orie (R-Allegheny) said a report issued yesterday by the Joint State
Government Commission will serve as an important starting point in developing
policies and legislation aimed at improving the current medical malpractice
liability system, to make it fairer and more effective.
Orie said the report, titled “Medical Professional
Liability Reform for the 21st Century: A Review of Policy Options,” was
commissioned as a result of Senate Resolution 160, which she sponsored last
session. It is part of ongoing legislative efforts to resolve the medical
malpractice insurance crisis and bring down skyrocketing premiums that are
threatening access to health care.
Orie’s resolution directed the Joint State
Government Commission to study the feasibility of establishing an alternative to
the existing medical professional liability system. The commission looked at a
number of options, including developing an administrative system, not based on
fault, or establishing specialized malpractice courts with medical expertise
that can properly determine issues such as the appropriate standard of care and
extent of damages.
“Recent studies have found that Pennsylvania’s
medical malpractice system performs poorly on several benchmarks, including
fairness, high cost, and consistency of treatment,” Orie said. “This report
will provide new policy options, as well as important factual information that
can be used to develop legislation.”
Orie said she is committed to finding ways to
improve the current system, to reduce frivolous lawsuits and bring down
skyrocketing insurance premiums that are forcing doctors out of Pennsylvania.”
“The current system does not provide incentives to
develop patient safety initiatives because it is based on blame, it does not
compensate all patients, and it does not properly regulate the small percentage
of practitioners who are responsible for the majority of medical claims,” she
said. “We need to consider new and innovative solutions to that will help to
make the system fairer and help to resolve these cases without such a high
cost.”
“History has clearly shown that what is needed is
systemic reform. This is at least the third medical malpractice ‘crisis’ in
recent memory, Orie said. “This crisis has reoccurred and persists despite the
fact that the General Assembly has already taken significant steps to reform the
existing tort system. I am pleased that we are taking steps to look
comprehensively at alternatives to determine if we can make necessary changes to
make the system fairer to all concerned.”
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