For the first time in several years, the NC General Assembly is considering meaningful medical liability reform. As reported previously in the NCMS Bulletin, the NC Senate approved legislation containing five very important medical liability reforms, which is now in the hands of the House. The NCMS has spearheaded lobbying efforts favoring Senate Bill 33 – Medical Liability Reforms (Apodaca, R-Buncombe; Brown, R-Onslow; Rucho, R-Mecklenburg). A strong coalition of medical specialties, NC Hospital Association, NC Chamber, and other health care interests are supporting the bill.

As this important debate continues, the NCMS will continue to work closely with legislators who support meaningful reform. We anticipate a thorough process will be used by the House Select Committee on Tort Reform, just as we saw in the Senate Judiciary 1 Committee. Please contact your legislator and ask them to support meaningful medical liability reform.

This week, the North Carolinians for Affordable Healthcare (NCAHC), began airing a series of television ads encouraging support of this important legislation. Led by the NCMS, with the participation of others that support medical liability reform, NCAHC is executing an aggressive media plan to educate the public about the benefits of medical liability reform in North Carolina. Please feel free to distribute this as you see fit (See the ad at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6Wh6UuKAn8). We hope that it will be seen and shared widely.