Cyrus Dugger

Public Citizen Defends Injured Patients

From Public Citizen:

Americans believe that people injured by the negligence of others deserve their day in court. That steadfast belief is grounded in our Constitution, which makes no distinction when it comes to patients injured by medical negligence.

Yesterday, Linda Andros, our Legislative Counsel, stood up for the fundamental rights of injured patients. She gave testimony before the Maryland House Judiciary Committee on a bill that would threaten the rights of patients to have access to the courts.

The Maryland state legislature is considering a bill (House Bill No. 48) that is deeply flawed for a host of reasons:
• It discriminates against people who are hurt by medical negligence - no other profession is shielded from accountability in this way.
• Patients would have to make their case before a biased review board of healthcare professionals before being granted access to the courts. Patients would have to pay extra during this review process.
• Patients could be forced to pay for all costs and attorney’s fees if they do not prevail at trial.
You can read her full testimony here:

The insurance industry and healthcare lobbyists are trying make an exception for people injured by medical negligence, claiming that there is a “crisis” in medical malpractice litigation. According to our recent report, “The Great Medical Malpractice Hoax,” about 5 percent of doctors are responsible for over 50 percent of medical malpractice payouts.

Also, read our recently released report, “The Great Medical Malpractice Hoax:”

Posted at 9:00 AM, Feb 01, 2007 in Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)