Rep. Martha McSally Did Not Break with the GOP

Rep. Martha McSally during a telephone town hall in February. [Photo from Facebook]

House Bill 1215 was the work product of the faulty insurance lobby; Risk Management Concepts. Capping medical malpractice to $250,000 does nothing to reduce the medical hazards that are created by incompetent medical doctors.

In a recent article written by Martha McSally in the Arizona Daily Star, “Why I broke with my party on capping malpractice damages,” she outlines the story of a newborn baby girl, when tested at the hospital after birth, was found to have a high risk of extreme jaundice. Instead of medical treatment, the infant was released from the hospital on the doctor’s orders and sent home. The doctor who ignored the medical tests became liable. By the time the infant did receive treatment, it was too late and she now has an irreversible brain injury. Hospitals should be required to not release a patient before a second opinion is made by a medical doctor with expertise on the devastating effects of extreme jaundice or a specialist in the area of concern and not ignore the initial test results.

Medical malpractice and third-party personal injury lawsuits has always been a contentious issue. This is because the insurance industry does not promote medical prevention, because they only view the risk of the amount of dollars needed to overcome a legal claim. Rep. McSally is correct to be wary of the tort system and frivolous lawsuits. The Dauber Ruling of precedence has done a lot to require factual information, rather than speculative opinions by unqualified experts. What is over-looked is that our tort liability has given the public safer cars, with safe airbags, ignition starter systems that work and other safeguards. The construction workplace has greatly benefited with a safer workplace, as litigation is usually the first to identify inherently unsafe design of construction equipment. The absence of rollover protective structures (ROPS) on tractors, graders, compactors, scrapers, compactors and backhoes/front-end loaders never got the light of day until a number of third-party personal injury claims were filed. Manufacturers of these machines assumed it was operator error until Plaintiff’s lawyers found that over 5,000 people a year died because of a rollover hazard that was found to be caused by a design defect. Every industry has benefitted with safer machines, equipment and systems because of liability claims.

Our insurance companies have continually provided fake news about being a concerned health industry when they avoid providing economic support for the development of design-based safety. The insurance enterprise is quick to promote capping on litigation with little thought of an injured party’s economic burden for malpractice or defective design. It is not the GOP who is at fault, as they are the scapegoat because the insurance enterprise is able to make millions of dollars as political contributions to our elected legislators.

Our Representative Martha McSally is doing a great job of standing up against capping malpractice personal injury liability. She is not at fault in any way for those who wrongfully assumed she was breaking with her Republican Party. The GOP was a recipient of fake information from the insurance lobby to write HR218-210. Martha McSally perceived that capping medical malpractice medical malpractice is not safe.

Good work Martha!

About David V. MacCollum 56 Articles
David V. MacCollum is a past president of the American Society of Safety Engineers and was a member of the first U.S. Secretary of Labor's Construction Safety Advisory Committee [1969-1972]. He is the author of: Construction Safety Planning (Jun 16, 1995) Crane Hazards and Their Prevention (Jan 1, 1991) Construction Safety Engineering Principles (McGraw-Hill Construction Series): Designing and Managing Safer Job Sites Jan 8, 2007) Building Design and Construction Hazards (May 15, 2005)