November 13, 2009
STATE BAR ASSOCIATION CALLS ON U.S. SENATE
TO REJECT CAPS ON MALPRACTICE VICTIMS’ PAIN AND SUFFERING
COMPENSATION
AS PART OF NATIONAL HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION
President Getnick Urges Senators Schumer and
Gillibrand to Reject Proposals that Discriminate Against Medical
Malpractice Victims and that Jeopardize Public Safety
New York State Bar Association President Michael E. Getnick (Getnick
Livingston Atkinson & Priore, LLP and of counsel to Getnick &
Getnick of New York City), in a letter today, called on the U.S. Senate
to reject any proposals that would discriminate against medical
malpractice victims while also jeopardizing public safety by capping the
amount of compensation that victims could receive for pain and
suffering. Such proposals have been raised in the debate over national
health care reform legislation.
In his letter to U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kristin
Gillibrand, President Getnick restated the State Bar’s long-held
position that the authority to change medical liability laws should rest
with the states and not the federal government.
“As Senate activity on this topic continues, I want to reiterate
our long standing objections to those tort and medical malpractice
reform proposals that have resurfaced as part of the current
debate,” wrote Getnick. “We object to legislation to cap
pain and suffering compensation for victims of medical
malpractice. Such caps would unjustly discriminate against classes
of accident victims who suffer devastating physical and psychological
losses.
“For over 200 years the authority to promulgate medical
liability laws has rested with the states, which are the repository of
experience and expertise in these matters,” Getnick noted in the
letter. “I am pleased that the House, in passing Bill 3962, The
Affordable Health Care for America Act, refrained from including
provisions advocated by some members that would have resulted in federal
tort laws encroaching upon the authority of the states.”
Getnick noted that legislation recently passed by the House of
Representatives would provide for incentive payments to states that
adopt alternative medical liability laws without imposing caps on
damages and other unacceptable measures. According to Getnick,
providing such incentive payments to states is an appropriate
alternative to proposals that would impair the ability of victims to
seek remedy in the justice system.
“In assessing the current tort system, it is at least as
important to consider the victims of malpractice in comparison to those
who cause them personal injury,” he said. “We have seen in
the past that the attack of tort reformers is a movement that favors
cost savings over quality and that emphasizes the corporate bottom line
over safety of the public.
“As the health care debate progresses with you and your
colleagues in the Senate we strongly urge Congress to focus on health
care problems and to ensure that the individual victims of medical
malpractice are not placed in a secondary position as compared to those
who have created the very victims from which they seek protection in the
name of tort reform,” Getnick concluded.
To view a full copy of President Getnick’s letter to Senators
Schumer and Gillibrand, please visit http://www.nysba.org/LtrMedMalUSSen.
Founded in 1876, the 76,000-member New York State Bar Association is
the official statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the
largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. The State
Bar’s programs and activities have continuously served the public
and improved the justice system for more than 130 years.
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