Taking away your patients' rights, one bill at a time

May 2, 2006

Mon, 1 May 2006 17:08:43 -0400 (EDT)

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Congress Watch

Taking away your patients' rights, one bill at a time

It's spring time in Washington, which means you can count on two

things: cherry blossoms and new attempts by Congress to take away

patients' rights. This year, the Senate Republican leadership has

dubbed these efforts " Health Week, " scheduled for early May. But you

can be sure there'll be nothing " healthy " about it.

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) will lead the latest attack on patients with

a bill that would shut medical malpractice victims out of court and

drastically limit compensation for those who manage to get in. Under

the guise of reducing doctors' malpractice insurance premiums, it

would place a $250,000 cap on the compensation patients could receive

to restore some of their quality of life even after the most grievous

injuries, such as when they have been left paralyzed or brain damaged

by a negligent doctor.

Meanwhile, the bill has no provision that would actually rein in

out-of-control medical malpractice insurance rates, even for an

industry that saw record profits in 2005, despite the devastation

caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.),

not to be outdone, will introduce comparable legislation with

identical caps, but that adds discrimination to the mix by cutting off

only the rights of women and babies hurt by negligent obstetrical

services.

As these dangerous bills and others come up for consideration in the

Senate, we will need your help to tell Congress to stop protecting

negligent doctors and greedy insurance companies instead of patients.

Stay tuned to Congress Watch for the latest civil justice news and

developments from Washington in the coming weeks.

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