The possibility of losing our medical care due to the medical
litigation crisis is real. Lawyers are abusing the system as they
"play the lottery" in search of a giant award. This game adversely
affects medicine in many ways and is threatening to destroy the
excellent system of health care we enjoy in Maryland.
A package of reforms, tried and proven in other states, is
advocated by the Save Our Doctors, Protect Our Patients Coalition (SaveOurDoctors.org).
Governor Ehrlich and the Maryland State Medical Society have put
forth similar proposals. You must act now to support these
solutions:
1. Adopt MICRA, in effect since 1985 in California. Patients are
protected and medical liability insurance premiums have been kept
within reason.
2. Adopt "Good Samaritan" protections so that doctors can donate
care to critically ill, often uninsured patients, in emergency
situations.
3. Adopt medical liability insurance reforms that promote
accountability, transparency, and competition among insurance
providers.
4. Create a healthcare court, similar to the one in Indiana,
where suits with no merit whatsoever are screened out of the system,
saving precious resources.
5. Adopt rules to qualify expert witnesses so that medical
qualifications are adequate and appropriate to the case under
consideration.
Please help avoid the looming catastrophe in Maryland health care
by supporting serious, long-term reforms in the medical litigation
process. What a shame it would be to lose our great health care to
selfish abuse of the court system!
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