Legislation receives overwhelming support in House

NASHVILLE – A major victory was scored today when Representative Doug Overbey (R-Maryville) was successful in passing the long-awaited compromise version of the medical malpractice reform legislation. The House added one amendment to Senate Bill 2001, after which it passed the House with a vote of 93-1. Last year the legislation passed the Senate but hit roadblocks in the House and was deferred until this year. Overbey stated that he was pleased that overwhelming support was shown for the revised bill. The bill will now return to the Senate to be considered.

“There was a lot of hard work put into this, and I believe we have come up with a compromise that accomplishes what we set out to do, and something that both plaintiffs and defendants agree is a concern,” said Overbey.

The Department of Commerce and Insurance Annual Reports on Medical Malpractice have shown that more than 80% of medical malpractice claims end up in no payment ever being made to the plaintiff. While acknowledging that not all claims are meritless, Overbey stated that a significant portion of them are filed without the appropriate amount of investigation and supporting documentation. The costs, both financial and emotional, are high for everyone in involved when this happens.

“This legislation is a huge step forward in dealing with non-meritorious litigation,” Overbey added.

The legislation was passed this week will do several things to solve the agreed upon problems. The legislation sets up a process requiring pre-filing notification to each medical provider who may be named in a medical malpractice action at least 60 days prior to filing a complaint. It also establishes that all parties are entitled to the plaintiff’s medical records within 30 days of a request for the records.

And finally, the bill requires that within 90 days after a complaint is filed the plaintiff’s attorneys must attest that they have consulted with a medical expert who is competent to testify in a Tennessee court and has reviewed the medical records or any other pertinent information. Further, the expert must declare that there is a good faith basis to maintain the malpractice action. Likewise, a defendant is responsible for following a similar procedure when alleging that a non-party is responsible.

“I’m pleased with the result—this will go a long way in reforming the process,” Overbey concluded.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 1:44 pm and is filed under In The News.
 Email This Post