New Senate bill protects patients' access to care

The American Medical Association ^ | June 27, 2003 | Daniel Blaney-Koen

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AMA strongly supports medical liability reform legislation based on 25+ years of experience

For immediate release

CHICAGO – The American Medical Association today announced its strong support for the Patients First Act of 2003 (S. 11), important medical liability reform introduced by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.). The Patients First Act of 2003 is modeled after common-sense reforms that have worked in California since 1975.

"There are 18 states in a full-blown medical liability crisis, and the Senate now has a historic opportunity to support proven reforms to protect patients’ access to care," said AMA President Donald J. Palmisano, MD. "We applaud Sen. Ensign’s leadership, and look forward to working with the full Senate to swiftly enact this legislation."

The comprehensive reforms contained in the Patients First Act of 2003 include:

Ensuring patients receive 100 percent compensation for their economic losses, including medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, lost wages and more, if harmed by a physician’s negligence; Maximizing the amount of money juries award for patients—not trial lawyers; Implementing expert-witness requirements; and Enabling patients to receive up to $250,000 in additional, non-economic damages, while also allowing states the flexibility to establish different caps. "The current liability system has failed patients," said Dr. Palmisano. "The AMA always has believed that patients who have been injured through negligence should be compensated fully and fairly. Unfortunately, the current jackpot-justice lottery system does not identify negligence, and it has forced good physicians out of medicine, and caused trauma centers and maternity wards to close across the country."

Nearly two-thirds of high-risk specialists have been forced to make changes to their practice, including referring complex cases and stopping the providing of certain services—such as delivering babies and performing trauma care, according to a recent AMA survey.

"The Patients First Act will help bring common sense back to our liability system," said Dr. Palmisano.

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Any hope of this bill even coming close to getting enough votes? Where can I find an analysis of the probable voting?

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[eureka!]

"Any hope of this bill even coming close to getting enough votes? Where can I find an analysis of the probable voting?"

Today's WSJ has an article posted 10-20 articles up. Bottomline: Rats (with GOP Lindsay) have competing bill and will stop this giving GOP campaign issue. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll try to find it and ping you...