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Illinois House Rejects Malpractice BillFrom: Steve & Eryl Raymond (dean@thehuffpeople.net)Mon May 31 13:25:17 2004
.. Illinois house rejects malpractice bill -- other versions may yet come up for vote Springfield, Illinois, State Journal-Register Compromise legislation dealing with medical malpractice reform was dealt a swift, and likely fatal, blow by lawmakers Thursday night. "The patient's on life support," said Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, after his bill fell more than 20 votes short of passing the House. A few minutes later, he declared the issue dead for this legislative session, saying: "You saw this year's effort at medical malpractice reform. You won't see another one." Fritchey's bill, the product of weeks of meetings with doctors, lawyers, hospitals and insurance lobbyists, passed through a House committee Thursday morning but received only 37 "yes" votes and 71 "no" votes in the full chamber. The measure needed 60 affirmative votes to pass. "Thirty-seven votes is a scream, not a whisper," he said. "People want something else. What that is I don't know." Doctors throughout Illinois have blamed high malpractice insurance premiums for driving them out of the state or out of the profession, and they've rallied lawmakers to fix the system. But the medical, legal and insurance parties involved in the debate blame different factors for the problem and have called for varying solutions. Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, organized meetings this spring to negotiate a solution to ease the doctors' burden. "There was a lot of politics involved," Cullerton said of Thursday's House vote. "Instead of trying to solve a problem, the Republicans apparently are more interested in trying to make a political issue out of this." All area House members voted against the measure, except Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield. There is still legislation on the issue, including a bill sponsored by Sen. Denny Jacobs, D-East Moline, that has support from the Illinois State Medical Society and the Illinois Hospital Association. But many Democratic lawmakers doubt it could pass both chambers before the end of the spring session. Jacobs' House Bill 4847 has some of the same provisions as Fritchey's proposal, including doubling the number of investigators at the Department of Professional Regulation to oversee doctors and allowing doctors to apologize to patients without admitting legal guilt. Other aspects of HB4847 would go further by: - Tightening qualifications for expert witnesses in medical malpractice lawsuits. - Protecting doctors' personal assets. - Informing members of juries that plaintiffs do not pay taxes on award money received. Patty Schuh, spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, said Senate Republicans hope that the defeat of the reform measure in the House will put the spotlight on Jacobs' bill. Jacobs said his bill should come up for a vote in the next couple of days. "I sure as hell hope so," he said. "If it doesn't happen, we certainly have made a mistake in all of the games we play down here." Earlier Thursday, Fritchey argued to fellow House committee members that his bill was a "good first step" because the doctors, hospitals and trial lawyers all stood in opposition to the measure. "When nobody likes a bill, it may damn well be very good," he said. Even after the bill's crushing defeat, Fritchey maintained that it would be nearly impossible to draft medical malpractice reform that makes everyone happy. "My personal opinion is if you wait for a perfect solution, it's going to be a long, long wait," he said.
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