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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 3, 2020 03:27 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Gary Day |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | COVID-19 Health Practitioner and Business Liability Limitations |
| I plan to re-introduce legislation that will help contain the costs for health care practitioners, manufacturers, employers, and others who are working in good faith for the common good of Pennsylvania during the COVID-19 crisis. Amid the COVID-19 emergency, people across our Commonwealth have risen to the call, stepped out of their comfort zones, and acted for the common good. Our health care workers and facilities scrambled to ensure that they could provide care for an expected surge of patients suffering from a little-understood new disease. Our manufacturers adapted to produce badly needed items, like hand sanitizer, ventilators, masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment. Our businesses strained under sudden shutdown orders but strived to provide for their employees, and as the Commonwealth reopens for business, to protect their customers as well. The people of Pennsylvania have risen to the challenge. My legislation will support these many kinds of heroes by limiting the legal liability of those who acted in good faith to protect our most vulnerable citizens. My legislation will not relieve liability for anyone who acted recklessly or with an intent to harm another, but it will protect those who acted on the behalf of others - doctors, nurses, hospitals, long-term care facilities, universities, hotels and other property owners who opened their facilities to care for the sick, manufacturers who retooled their operations to address the emergency, and employers who bravely reopen their businesses while using recommended safe practices. In addition, to guarantee that those who are injured receive the fullest recovery, my legislation will apply a sliding scale to the redirection of victims' damage awards to plaintiffs' attorneys and back to the victims themselves, as well as directing that punitive damages should be directed to aid older Pennsylvanians. The people of Pennsylvania acted to protect one another when the emergency struck. Please join me in protecting those who acted on behalf of us all and co-sponsor this legislation. |