Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog
All of us have been taught the importance of being personally responsible and accountable for our actions. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Bills that will make it more difficult, if not impossible, for citizens harmed by the wrongdoing of others to seek justice in our nation’s courts. Congress is proposing legislation that will make lawsuits brought by injured patients, nursing home residents, and their families nearly impossible to pursue. This so-called “Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017” (Bill H.R. 1215) will rig the system against individuals and tip the scales in favor of doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and their insurance companies. These bills seek to prevent medical care providers who commit negligence from being held accountable for the injuries and damages they cause. Instead of protecting our most vulnerable citizens, such as nursing home residents, Congress is attempting to enact laws that will benefit only the corporations that run nursing homes and the companies that insure them.
Unfortunately, certain politicians, who are supported in large part by corporations and insurance companies, are proposing these laws that are designed to destroy your right to hold wrongdoers accountable for their negligent acts and omissions. If passed, the Bills proposed will radically change existing laws and radically limit citizens’ access to courts. The proposed Bills include the following:
- A law designed to protect doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, and medical device manufacturers by limiting compensation for injuries caused by their negligence to $250,000, regardless of how egregious their conduct was or how much the injury has devastated a victim’s life.
- A law eliminating class-action lawsuits, which would largely destroy our ability to bring certain kinds of cases that have proven to keep us safer.
- A law eliminating or preempting States’ rights and laws, and forcing most cases to be litigated in Federal Court instead.
The founders of our country recognized that in order to have a rational and functioning democracy, there has to be a system of justice that enables individuals who have been harmed to hold the wrongdoers accountable. That is what led to the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, which grants the right to a trial by jury in certain civil cases. Now, corporations are attempting to obtain unfettered power that the founders of our country fought to protect against. These corporations and insurance companies are seeking that power by eroding, if not eliminating, your constitutional right to a trial by jury and your right to be compensated fairly when injured by wrongdoing.
The trial attorneys at Suthers & Harper have been fighting for the rights of victims of medical negligence for decades. If you believe, as we do, that it is unacceptable for Congress to eliminate your right to hold the parties that harmed you or your loved ones accountable, please tell your elected officials in Washington to stand up for you and your family and vote NO on this offensive bill. Please take action today! Your elected officials need to hear from you that you want to preserve your rights to access the civil justice system, and be able to obtain full and fair compensation when injured by others. Please take 2-3 minutes and click on the links below to inform your representatives that you oppose any Bills that seek to increase the profits of corporations and insurance companies by preventing victims of medical malpractice and nursing home malpractice from having a jury decide their fate.
http://www.takejusticeback.com/ProtectPatients – This is an online site that will allow you to automatically write or call your members of Congress.
http://www.house.gov/representatives – This site will enable you to find the contact information for your representatives in Congress.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY AND CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS, AND TELL HIM OR HER TO VOTE NO ON H.R. 1215. THANK YOU.