On April 8th, Governor Baker filed important legislation that would ensure immunity for clinicians providing care during the COVID-19 crisis against civil suits. Although many liability protections exist for volunteers responding to this pandemic on both the state and federal level, these enhanced liability protections do not apply to most paid physicians.
As the COVID-19 surge quickly approaches, it is crucial that we pass this legislation as soon possible. The Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (MCAAP) in conjunction with Massachusetts Medical Society asks you to write to your state legislators and urge them to pass this bill as quickly as possible.
The MCAAP needs your immediate support to this Call For Action
.
Please take the time to contact your legislators and let them know why liability protections are important to you!
Message to Legislator
S
ubject Line: Urgent - Please Pass S.2630 and Protect Health Care Providers During the COVID-19 Crisis
I am writing as a constituent pediatrician and member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to urge immediate passage of S.2630, An Act to Provide Liability Protections for Health Care Workers and facilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic, providing civil immunity from liability for physicians and other health care professionals and facilities providing care during the COVID-19 crisis absent gross negligence or other willful misconduct.
The COVID-19 crisis has overwhelmed our health care system and severely constrained resources, including the health care workforce. Steps have been taken to maximize the physician workforce to meet increased demand, but additional physicians will be needed and our current physician workforce will be asked to provide increasingly complex care to more patients under challenging circumstances. Legal liability remains a significant obstacle for those considering how best to offer their services. During this crisis, extreme circumstances may require physicians to make challenging and painful decisions about how to allocate limited and potentially life-saving resources. Physicians - both those providing direct COVID-19 care and those continuing to provide other medically necessary care - are concerned about an unreasonable increase in liability exposure that does not appropriately reflect the provision of care and clinical decisions made in a crisis situation due to patient surge or scarcity of resources. Although state and federal liability protections exist for volunteers responding to this pandemic, these enhanced liability protections do not apply to most paid physicians.
At this critical time, we must empower physicians to make difficult decisions that provide the best patient care possible under the most trying circumstances while not later subjecting them to unreasonable penalization through tort provisions written absent contemplation of such a crisis.
New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, has provided such protection through Executive Order, while more than a dozen other states have enacted statutes similarly limiting physician liability in a public health emergency. This legislation strikes an appropriate balance supporting physicians and protecting patients. We respectfully request the legislature take immediate action to safeguard physicians as they work overtime to care for patients and protect public health.
[Feel free to add brief personal/clinical perspective on this issue as applicable]
Sincerely,
Thank you!
