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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 28, 2013 12:01 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Bryan Cutler |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Certificate of Merit (Former HB 1419) |
| In the near future, I will be reintroducing legislation which amends the Judicial Code (Title 42) to statutorily establish and enhance the requirement content of a certificate of merit in litigation dealing with professional liability. As you know, our efforts in the General Assembly to address tort reform and end the liability crisis included a successful lobbying campaign which spurred our state Supreme Court to institute court rules limiting frivolous lawsuits. One such rule requires that a plaintiff who wants to sue a doctor or other licensed professional must include a certificate of merit when filing suit. The certificate of merit is a statement from a licensed professional that the treatment rendered by a physician or other professional in the plaintiff’s case fell outside acceptable standards and was responsible for causing harm to the plaintiff. The rule was instituted in 2003, and as time has passed, I have been informed by doctors and hospital administrators that the rule is far too general and that improvements are needed in order for the certificate of merit to have value in the judicial process. My legislation will incorporate much of the language of the current court rule and will statutorily establish the requirement of a certificate of merit in liability cases. The bill will also require the licensed professional who executes the certificate of merit to affirm that he has read the complaint, to provide a resume of his credentials attesting to his professional acumen, and to submit a written and signed statement attesting that each allegation in the complaint has merit. PREVIOUS CO-SPONSORS: AUMENT, BOBACK, BOYD, CAUSER, CREIGHTON, DENLINGER, EVERETT, FLECK, GABLER, GEIST, GINGRICH, GRELL, GROVE, HESS, HICKERNELL, KAUFFMAN, KNOWLES, MAJOR, METCALFE, MILLARD, MILLER, MILNE, MURT, MUSTIO, OBERLANDER, O'NEILL, PICKETT, QUINN, REICHLEY, ROCK, SAYLOR, SCHRODER, SIMMONS, SONNEY, STERN AND VULAKOVICH |
Introduced as HB1301