Healthcare: Events: Common Good Offers Expert Testimony in Maryland

Common Good Offers Expert Testimony in Maryland

March 1, 2007

Location: Annapolis, MD

Following on the heels of his January testimony before the Md. House of Delegates Judiciary Committee, Common Good General Counsel Paul Barringer presented the case for health courts on March 3rd before members of the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee. After outlining the core elements of the health courts proposal, Mr. Barringer commended the committee for considering ways in which components of the model might improve medical injury compensation in Maryland .  Mr. Barringer noted that the health court model is flexible and that states, as laboratories of policy experimentation, have excellent opportunities to develop tailored approaches.  He concluded by stressing that change is vitally needed to improve the system’s functioning in Maryland .

In his prior testimony before the Maryland House of Delegates Judiciary Committee, Common Good General Counsel Paul Barringer outlined the core elements of the health court model developed by Common Good and researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health.  He also suggested that policymakers consider ways in which components of the model might be applicable to medical injury compensation in Maryland, including providing enhanced training opportunities for judges, facilitating the retention of independent expert witnesses, publishing case decisions to foster consistency, and expanding the linkages between dispute resolution processes and patient safety structures.  Mr. Barringer stressed that the health court model is flexible and suggested that states, as laboratories of policy experimentation, have excellent opportunities to develop approaches that are particularly workable for their citizens.

Delegate Dan Morhaim (D- Baltimore), who introduced a bill that would create mandatory pre-trial screening panels for medical injury cases, expressed interest in amending the bill to incorporate elements of the health court model.  An emergency room physician himself, he also spoke about the need for medical liability reform in Maryland to heal distrust in the medical system.  Dr. Morhaim lamented that in the current environment - all too often - “patients and providers see each other as adversaries.”  A number of expert witnesses, including representatives from MedChi, the Maryland Medical Society, urged the legislature to consider creating a specialized approach within the civil court system to hear medical injury cases.

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