Title: Establishes Medical Malpractice Claims Review Panel
Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that establishes a medical malpractice claims review panel.
Highlights:
Establishes a medical review panel consisting of 1 attorney and 3 licensed health care providers to review any proposed malpractice complaint against a health care provider (Secs. 1 & 7).
Requires a malpractice or malpractice-related claim against a health care provider to be reviewed by a medical review panel before being commenced in court (Sec. 3).
Authorizes the panel to (Sec. 18):
Request all necessary and relevant information;
Consult with medical authorities; and
Examine reports of other health care providers necessary to fully inform the panel on the issue to be reviewed.
Requires all parties to have full access to any material submitted to the panel (Sec. 18).
Authorizes a claimant to initiate a malpractice-related claim against a health care provider and bypass the medical review panel process under the following conditions (Sec. 4):
The claimant and each party named as a defendant agree that the claim is not to be presented to a medical review panel;
The agreement is in writing and is signed by each party; and
The claimant attaches a copy of the agreement to the complaint filed with the court.