A handful of bills have been introduced in the state House of Representatives that would loosen tort laws in favor of trial lawyers, increase medical liability payouts, and drive up the cost of liability insurance.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society strongly opposes these bills and is coordinating efforts to fight the legislation with other health care and business organizations.
The bills were introduced at the request of the state’s trial bar, which now calls itself the Pennsylvania Association for Justice. They are:
- House Bill 2123, introduced by Rep. Paul Drucker (D-Chester, Montgomery), would invalidate pre-treatment arbitration agreements, eliminating a valuable tool for more efficiently resolving disputes with lower costs and less acrimony. The bill is unnecessary since courts already have the right to invalidate any arbitration agreement that is unfair or made under duress.
- House Bill 1444, introduced by Rep. Matthew Bradford (D-Montgomery), would allow trial lawyers to quantify damages for pain and suffering, something that should be left up to juries. Mixing quantified non-evidential, non-economic requests with hard evidence of economic damages will confuse juries and drive up awards.
- House Bill 1095, introduced by Rep. Jesse White (D-Allegheny), and House Bill 2202, introduced by Rep. Michael Gerber (D-Montgomery), would expand the types of damages that can be recovered and the persons who can sue to recover them. These bills would significantly increase liability insurance costs, while making Pennsylvania one of the most litigation-friendly states in the country.
Voting mostly on party lines, the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 26, 2010, approved the bills and sent them on to the full House.