A
Message from Representative Whitsett
With the passage of
Senate Bill 483,
the House and Senate voted in a
beginning step toward medical
malpractice reform. This compromise
bill resulted from a promise made by
Governor John Kitzhaber during the
last legislative session. In 2011,
the governor agreed to put forward a
medical liability bill in return for
passage of his Health Care Reform
Plan.
SB 483 is the result of a
gubernatorial work group where both
the trial lawyers and doctors agreed
to a confidential mediation process
for those medical errors which may
end in malpractice suits.
Under SB 483, the discussions are
confidential and the resultant
information cannot be entered into
evidence at trial, at a later date.
A primary concern regarding the bill
is that it does not go far enough
toward true medical tort reform.
As background information, Oregon’s
non-economic damages were limited to
$500,000 in 1987, but a subsequent
challenge to the Oregon Supreme
Court overturned the law in 1999 on
the basis that it was
unconstitutional. Oregon has not had
a cap on medical liability since
then and this bill represents a very
small, but positive step forward
toward true tort reform. It is hoped
that the Governor will continue to
push for the solid tort reform he
promised the state and the
legislature when his health care
reform bill was passed.
Spotlight On: HB 2015
Every week I will be focusing on one
of the bills I have introduced this
session.
Last week's
focus was TANF reform (HB 3322).
This week's spotlight is on
HB 2015,
which would notify women if their
mammogram indicates that their
breast tissue is dense.
Why is this an important issue?
According to the
Are You DENSE Advocacy Group:
- 40% of women have dense
breast tissue.
- Breast density is one of the
strongest predictors of the
failure of mammography to detect
cancer.
- Mammography misses every
other cancer in dense breasts.
- Breast density is a
well-established predictor of
breast cancer risk.
- Breast density is a greater
risk factor than having two
first degree relatives with
breast cancer.
Additionally, 95% of women do not
know their breast density.
Are
You Dense?
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