NORTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE SIGNS PLEDGE BACKING MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM:

The North Carolina Chapter of Doctors for Medical Liability Reform announced that Congressman Richard Burr, currently running for U.S. Senate, has signed their pledge supporting federal legislation that would limit non-economic medical liability awards to $250,000.00 and help keep high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable for all North Carolinians. Dr. Gail Rosseau, the national spokesperson for DMLR and a practicing neurosurgeon and director of Cranial Base Surgery at the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch, said, “We are very pleased to have Congressman Burr officially and publicly support this cause.” DMLR was created to urge U.S. senators to support federal medical liability reform legislation. Although such legislation has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives (with Burr’s support) and is supported by President Bush, a handful of senators have blocked consideration of the measure in the Senate last summer and again in February of this year. Included in the pledge that Congressman Burr signed are the statements: “I recognize that the citizens of North Carolina and across the country are facing an unprecedented healthcare crisis. Skyrocketing medical liability insurance premiums caused by escalating and unlimited jury awards are forcing doctors to limit services, retire early, abandon patients or move to a friendlier state, creating a vacuum of care where patients no longer have access to critical medical services.” The pledge also specifically points out that, “this cap will not limit economic compensation awarded for lost income, inability to work, long-term care or medical expenses.”