Health care reform should improve safety, not restrict rights of patients
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As President Obama and Congressional leaders prepare for tomorrow's health care summit, the American Association for Justice (AAJ) is today reminding lawmakers to remember the 98,000 patients killed every year by preventable medical errors and how restricting their legal rights will not fix America's broken health care system.
"Opponents of reform have repeatedly attacked injured patients and used the malpractice issue to hijack the health care debate," said AAJ President Anthony Tarricone. "If health care reform makes medicine safer, then fewer patients will need legal recourse – a win for everyone. But it is unconscionable to tell injured patients that they should be left with no recourse if injured through no fault of their own."
Four-year-old Cara Leigh Searcy of Scottsville, VA, was one of the 98,000 patients killed annually by preventable medical errors. Cara needed a kidney removed, and the ureter from that kidney was re-attached to the remaining one. While still at the hospital, Cara began leaking urine into her abdomen from the ureter re-attachment. Her belly swelled with fluid, making it difficult for her to breathe. Electrolytes which should have been excreted in the urine were instead reabsorbed through the abdominal wall, destroying the delicate chemical balances in Cara's blood. Despite several calls to the surgical team from her nurse, Cara was allowed to deteriorate for approximately 16 hours after her breathing difficulty was first identified. She died from cardiac arrest.
Before tomorrow's summit, please review the following facts about medical negligence and its role in the health care debate. AAJ has fact sheets and video tributes to the lives behind medical negligence at www.98000reasons.org.
As the world's largest trial bar, American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) works to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others--even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations. Visit http://www.justice.org.
SOURCE American Association for Justice
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