The right to a trial by jury is one of the most sacred rights provided to us by the Constitution. Rourke & Blumenthal has always believed that a jury of our peers should decide a dispute after hearing all of the evidence, not politicians funded by large corporations and insurance companies. This is why we are so concerned about various new laws that the politicians in Washington have devised that are specifically aimed at destroying our access to the courts and our right to have a dispute fairly decided by an impartial jury.
The bill "Protecting Access to Care Act" [H.R. 1215] is an example of Washington politicians reducing access to the courts while undermining patient safety for citizens throughout our country. The bill would limit the compensation for injuries caused by medical professionals regardless of the severity of injury to the patient; allow big insurance companies to make "payments" to injured patients over time as opposed to paying full compensation as ordered by a jury or court; make it much more difficult for patients to find an attorney willing to take their cases because of significant restrictions on fee contracts that they are allowed to enter into with a lawyer; and impedes on the rights of States to decide how to best protect their citizens through patient safety liability laws.
While this may not mean much to the average citizen right now, it may very well have significant ramifications for you or a loved one in the future. Research has shown that preventable medical errors are the third leading cause of death in our country. If passed, this law will all but destroy your right to use the judicial system to protect your rights against the responsible party if the day comes where you or a loved one is injured by a medical provider. This law also allows negligent medical providers and their insurance companies to pass the buck for the harms that they cause to the injured patient or to taxpayers.
Regardless of your personal political affiliation, most Americans would agree that we need to be diligent in obtaining reliable information given all of the questionable news sources on the internet and the reports of "fake news." Healthcare is a very hot topic in our country right now. Rourke & Blumenthal challenges you to research the impact of tort reform on the health system. We are confident that you will find that tort reform has been turned into a political weapon that serves to distract us from addressing the real problems in our healthcare system, such as too many preventable injuries and deaths that are incredibly costly to patients, insurers, and the general public.
If you see a problem with big government unnecessarily interfering with your rights as a patient and citizen, we encourage you to reach out to your local government officials to speak out. Here is a link to help you do that: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials