SB 244 Is Bad for Victims of Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice can be life altering, or even fatal. Current South Carolina law strikes a balance among the needs of injury victims, the incentive malpractice law creates for medical providers to exercise due care, and the need for medical professionals to operate without unnecessarily harsh consequences for honest mistakes. 

The current law puts a cap on non-economic damages for medical malpractice victims–damages for things like loss of quality of life and pain and suffering. But, there are exceptions. The limit doesn’t apply if the medical provider’s actions were grossly negligent,reckless, wilful or wanton. The limit also doesn’t apply if the defendant provider engaged in fraud or misrepresentation, or if they destroyed medical records to try to cover up their malpractice.

In other words, a medical provider is at risk of a larger judgment if they do very bad, dangerous things that we want to discourage. And, a malpractice plaintiff can potentially recover more compensation if they’ve been the victim of these very bad actions. 

SB 244 changes all that.

South Carolina Tort Reform Would Protect Bad Doctors and Hurt Injured People

Under the proposed law change, the only exceptions to the limit on damages would be: 

• When the provider intentionally harmed the patient,
• When the provider was convicted of or pled guilty to a felony in connection with the malpractice, and
• When the provider acted or failed to act while impaired by drugs, alcohol or other mind-altering substances

In other words, physicians and other medical providers who hurt or killed patients through gross negligence, recklessness, or even wilful actions would be protected. And the people they harmed would have less access to the compensation they need to try to rebuild their lives. 

So who benefits if the bill passes? Reckless medical providers who are a danger to the community and the insurance companies that profit from smaller payouts to people whose lives have been upended by medical malpractice.

Tell Your State Legislators to Vote No on SB 244

Protecting reckless and grossly negligent doctors is just one of the ways the proposed tort reform would hurt people in South Carolina. And, it won’t do what the insurance lobby is promising. Though they preview lower insurance rates for South Carolina professionals, business owners and homeowners, they won’t commit to a specific reduction or show us their math. 

They’ve made this promise before in other states, and it hasn’t panned out like they promised. 

Contact your South Carolina legislators today and let them know you want them to put the welfare of the community and injured people ahead of insurance company profits You can find more information or search for your legislators at https://fairsc.com .