HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 9, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- On Tuesday, Jan. 27, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an editorial entitled "Malpractice Lawsuits: Senate shouldn't bend for doctors," which argued against placing reasonable limits on lawsuit awards with repeated misrepresentations and erroneous references to punitive damages.
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry responded immediately with a Letter to the Editor that pointed out that the Inquirer was factually incorrect when it stated that the General Assembly was attempting to place "broad limits on punitive damages." Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran response letters that supported their factual misstatements, but refused to correct the blatant inaccuracies of their editors by running our letter.
First and foremost, the proposal before the General Assembly deals with intangible, non-economic damages, NOT punitive damages as the editorial discussed. Non-economic damages include difficult-to-measure "pain and suffering" damages. It does not include economic damages (wages, medical expenses, custodial care costs) or punitive damages (awarded when the action is so egregious as to merit a penalty) as the editorial incorrectly suggested.
Second, there is absolutely no legislation being considered that establishes any type of cap on damages. Rather, the issue expected to be considered in the Senate over the next few weeks is a question of whether to amend Pennsylvania's Constitution. More specifically, senators will vote on whether the citizens of Pennsylvania should be allowed to decide whether the General Assembly should have the authority to consider guidelines or controls for non-economic damages. Pennsylvania is one of only five states where the legislature is prohibited this authority.
Clearly, this is a highly complex process that the opposition has trivialized with misrepresentations and half-truths. Factual inaccuracies by the news media, and all parties involved in the debate, are not only underhanded, but a tremendous disservice to the people of Pennsylvania who will ultimately decide this critical issue.
While the Chamber understands, "there is simply not room for many letters - however good they are -- for any one topic," as the Inquirer pointed out, we respectfully suggest it is their duty to ensure the facts are accurate. To this end, our letter would have informed the Inquirer's readers accurately, as their editors failed to do.
A copy of the PA Chamber's letter appears below:
Dear Editor,
The debate over methods to restore fairness to the state's runaway legal system has been fraught with scare tactics and misleading statements. Sadly, the editorial in Tuesday's Philadelphia Inquirer entitled "Malpractice Lawsuits: Senate shouldn't bend for doctors," continues that campaign of misinformation by its repeated factually inaccurate references to punitive damages.
The question before the General Assembly is whether to let the people of Pennsylvania decide if the state's constitution should be amended to allow the General Assembly simply to debate reasonable guidelines or limits on intangible non-economic damages, such as difficult-to-measure "pain and suffering." Pennsylvania is one of only three states that have a constitution that prohibits the General Assembly from having this authority. Such an amendment would not apply to economic damages (wages, medical expenses, custodial care costs), or punitive damages (awarded when the action is so egregious as to merit a penalty), as the editorial suggested.
Placing reasonable limits on non-economic damages would not prevent people from being fairly compensated, as every Pennsylvania resident would still have the opportunity to seek redress in the courts. What it would accomplish, however, is to begin restoring balance, fairness and personal responsibility to a legal system that fails every Pennsylvanian by its lack of those traits. In the end, everyone pays for lawsuit abuse through higher costs for medical care, consumer products and community services.
The Pennsylvania Constitution has set forth a deliberate, sound and reasonable process for changing its content. Only after the people have decided on whether to amend the constitution can we have a true, meaningful discussion on whether there should be limits, guidelines or structure for unreasonable jury awards and for what types of cases they should apply.
Factual inaccuracies and misrepresentations by respected news media and all parties involved in the debate are a tremendous disservice to the people of Pennsylvania as they decide this critical issue.
Sincerely, Floyd Warner President Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state's largest broad-based business association and the fastest growing state chamber in the United States, with more than 10,000 members covering all 67 counties. More information is available on the Chamber's website at www.pachamber.org
The PA Chamber of Business and Industry logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=353