Proposed Caps and Infant Fund Called “Devastating” for New York’s Most Vulnerable
ALBANY – Victims of medical negligence and their families arrived in Albany today to share their stories with legislators and to stop two budget proposals – an arbitrary “cap” on malpractice compensation and a so-called Neurologically Impaired Infant Fund – that would severely limit the rights of patients harmed by preventable medical errors.
Their arrival comes on the heels of an editorial from the New York Times published Sunday, which called caps the “wrong way to go” and wrote that they “will unfairly punish patients badly injured by medical negligence.” Instead, the Times wrote that “The best solution is to greatly reduce the errors and bad outcomes that can lead to malpractice suits.”
“When we understood the extent of our son’s injuries, we were devastated,” said Dawn Walsh, of Dix Hills. “The mistakes our doctors made caused permanent, life-changing disabilities and my son will need constant care for the rest of his life. But I know that care will always be there because we had access to the civil justice system. In states with so-called “Infant Funds” like Virginia, families like ours have to fight a bureaucracy for every cent of care they need. That is not a model we should bring to New York.”
“My life was nearly taken away from me, but I fought to get it back,” said Sean Biesty of Brooklyn, a former high-school basketball star who went into cardiac arrest for more than twenty minutes after receiving the wrong medicine while undergoing treatment for a car accident. “Building an independent life for myself was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I know it would not have been possible without the resources available to me from my settlement. I’m here today to make sure other victims of preventable mistakes have what I had.”
“Families who suffer devastating traumas from preventable mistakes should not be made to suffer twice,” said Carolyn Sokolnicki, who lived in Staten Island when her newborn daughter suffered severe brain damage just days after being born. “The costs of dealing with a permanently disabled child are enormous – emotionally and financially. We had to sell our house to make sure our daughter had the care she needed while we waited for our case to be resolved. I cannot imagine how other families will get by if Albany takes away their right to a day in court.”
“My son suffered permanent injuries from a preventable mistake,” said Shpresa Maloku, of the Bronx. “But he was able to live for 22 years because he always had the care he needed. No one should have to go through what my family did, but I came to Albany to make sure that any family that does has the resources they deserve and need.”
The victims and their families plan to meet with legislators in both chambers throughout the day to share their experiences and warn against radical changes to the civil justice system. Albany is currently debating an arbitrary $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, which would limit compensation no matter how severe a patient’s injuries are or the degree of negligence committed by hospitals and doctors.
A second proposal would establish a new Neurologically Impaired Infant Fund, which would require the families of infants permanently disabled by negligent care to apply to a new bureaucracy every time they need care for their child. Only two other states have experimented with such funds; in Virginia benefits for families had to be reduced when the fund ran out of money.
“Our elected officials in the state legislature must heed the calls of these victims of medical negligence, and reject the proposal to cap damages from malpractice cases,” said Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York. “Instead, New York should focus on ways to minimize cases of medical negligence and ensure the safety of patients.”
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