Consumer Advocacy Group Advises Against Federal Medical Malpractice Legislation
The national consumer advocacy group Public Citizen has weighed in on the proposed legislation regarding medical medicalpractice. Calling it harmful to ordinary citizens, Public Citizen urged legislators to reject the proposals.
In a letter to members of the House, Public Citizen said the tort reform measure would “prove devastating to medical malpractice victims, overturn numerous state laws and escalate the costs of existing government programs by saddling the state with costs created by private wrongdoers” and it would also “shield physicians and hospitals, drug and medical device manufacturers and nursing home operators from accountability.”
Currently the malpractice legislation is folded into a bill dealing with the repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board. Some Democratic lawmakers are urging their Repulican colleagues to disentangle the malpractice piece from the IPAB issue especially since one has nothing to do with the other. As with most legislation, the devil is in the details and it’s important to review the bill in its entirety.
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