In a move that could improve communication between physicians, patients and their families, it looks like Pennsylvania could become the 37th state to pass its own form of the benevolent gesture or “I’m sorry ” bill. The state Senate unanimously voted in favor of it last week. The legislation gives healthcare professionals the ability to express compassion to patients and their families when a procedure or treatment fails to meet expectations without having to worry that those remarks will be used against them in a malpractice suit.
In previous attempts, the bill died in the Senate. Then, the problem was that it lumped outright admission of negligence with benevolent gestures as statements inadmissible at trial, Philly.com noted. The new version makes any benevolent gesture made prior to the commencement of a medical liability action by a health care provider, assisted living residence, or personal care home inadmissible as evidence of liability or an admission against interest.
The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee on June 28 and now it goes to the full House. It’s possible that they they will not vote on it before the House adjourns for the summer break.
The bill should go some ways in giving doctors the comfort level to answer patients’ questions without worrying that there’s an invisible personal injury lawyer in the room taking notes.
Some 36 states have some form of the “I’m Sorry” law with more states reviewing legislation of their own.
Rhode Island Rep McNamara introduced a similar bill earlier this year but it got stalled in a House Committee. Wisconsin senators also proposed benevolent gesture legislation this year. The wording of the bill varies from state to state. Critics of these bills say most are worded in a way that gives little protection to physicians. Bioethicist Jacob Appel points out that fourteen states offer “good faith” physician apologies but with no protections at all. He added that Colorado stands out as one of the few states where actual admissions of fault are protected by an evidentiary privilege.
“Most large states that nominally protect apologies, such as Ohio and California, do so in a manner so narrow that physicians may in practice say very little without increasing their risk of liability.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
