Michigan this month passed two bills reforming medical malpractice rules, and the consumer winds up the loser in that state. Ironically, the legislation was part of a “Patients First Reform Package.”
Senate Bill 1115 limits the amount of malpractice damages that can be awarded to victims, and it passed with a wide margin, namely a 108-2 vote in the state Senate.
Senate Bill 1118 decreases the time limit that a person or family has for suing on someone who is deceased, and also bars prejudgment interest on attorney fees and costs. It flew through the Senate in a 107-3 vote, according to Michigan Live Media Group.
http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/12/two_medical_malpractice_bills.html
Mag Mutual, a medical professional liability insurer, also issued a press release on the legislation, which benefits its industry.
The two anti-patient bills that passed were criticized by Marc Lipton, the Southfield attorney who is president of the Michigan Association for Justice, a trial lawyers group.
“I’m disappointed that the Legislature spent all this time on bills that were designed to protect insurance companies and ultimately would endanger patients,” Michigan Live Media Group quoted him as saying.
Exactly so.
There were actually four malpractice bills under consideration in Michigan, and only two of them made it to a vote. Of the bills that didn’t make it, one sought to expand the types of health care professionals that can be sued for medical malpractice. The Senate approved it but it never made it to a vote in the Senate.
The other bill, left hanging in committee, mandated that a medical facility and or health care professional couldn’t be sued for malpractice “if the doctor acted with reasonable and good-faith belief that the conduct was well-founded in medicine and the patient’s best interests,” Michigan Live Media Group reported.
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