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Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009

Perdue says tort reform needed

Gov. Sonny Perdue on Tuesday jumped back into a controversial issue from the 2005 legislative session: tort reform.

Perdue said he will support new rules to deter nuisance lawsuits, as well as protections for biotechnology companies in Georgia.

The nuisance protections would make a person filing a lawsuit or their attorney responsible for the defendant’s legal fees if a civil suit is dismissed by a judge “at the earliest possible stage,” Perdue said. New rules also would delay discovery, which can be a time-consuming and expensive process, “until the legal merits of a complaint have been tested,” he said.

For biotechnology companies, those with “a significant presence in Georgia” would be immune from product liability claims in State Court if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company’s “medical device, drug or the labeling along with it,” Perdue proposed.

That change would make Georgia “even more attractive” to biotechnology companies, Perdue said.

Not surprisingly, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association came out against Perdue’s proposals, which a spokeswoman said took association members by surprise Tuesday.

“We have a budget shortfall and the national economy is in dire straights,” the association said in an e-mailed statement. “Why would the Governor, at a time when Georgians are already suffering, create legislation that takes away the Constitutional rights of Georgians? Immunizing pharm companies erases any incentive for them to create safe products, as there will be no accountability for negligence.”

TRAUMA FUNDING STILL A PRIORITY

Even in a tight budget year, new funding for trauma care appears to be a priority for top legislative leaders. Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson said Monday that he doesn’t particularly care how medical care for accident victims gets subsidized, but it’s time to pick a method and move on.

“(People) think that when they dial 911 that they’re going to get the best medical care,” Richardson said Tuesday morning. “And they’re not getting that.”

Some of the funding ideas being discussed are small surcharges on telephone lines and $10 fees on driver’s licenses or car tags.

The money would help large hospitals fund their emergency rooms and fund new services in rural areas where accident victims currently can’t get to a hospital quickly enough.

The issue is particularly dear for Macon state Sen. Cecil Staton, who was in a horrific car crash six years ago. Staton showed fellow senators pictures of his mangled car Tuesday and said he’ll continue to push for more funding.

“I was lucky,” Staton said of his accident, which occurred close enough to a hospital that his life was saved.

UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE SCHEDULE

Tuesday was the second legislative day of the 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly. Up to 38 days remain, though legislators can spread them out and don’t have to be in session for a full 40 days.

The General Assembly will be in session every day this week but out of session all next week. Committee meetings and other events will continue, but the full Legislature will not meet because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday and the presidential inauguration Tuesday.

The House Appropriations Committee is expected to meet Jan. 21-23 to review Gov. Sonny Perdue’s budget proposals.