HELENA — A bill creating sweeping protections for physicians and other medical providers against malpractice lawsuits won endorsement Tuesday from the Montana House. On a mostly party-line vote with Republicans in favor, the House voted 65-35 for House Bill 405, which says a medical provider is immune from liability if they have a “documented rationale” for omitting a level of care. That documentation is described in HB405 as a statement from the provider at the time of the “alleged error” that gives his or her reason for omitting a test, procedure or treatment. Rep. Janna Taylor, R-Dayton, and sponsor of the bill, said the measure doesn’t bar malpractice lawsuits but does provide protections that will help reduce the incidence and cost of “defensive medicine.” “Most doctors say they practice defensive medicine on every patient every day,” she said. “Do we want more doctors, especially in our rural areas? Do we want to lower the cost of medicine? … If so, I bring you” this bill. Taylor said her bill does not limit the awards for plaintiffs who succeed in showing that a physician or other provider committed malpractice. Opponents of the bill, however, said the change won’t necessarily reduce medical costs and may prevent people who’ve been injured by medical error from recovering any damages. Rep. Ken Peterson, R-Billings, one of three Republicans who opposed the measure, said medical providers aren’t found guilty of malpractice unless they’re negligent, under current law, and then usually only if substantial damage occurred. “I’m speaking for the patients,” said Peterson, an attorney. “I think the standard should be negligence. That’s what it is now, that’s what it should be and that’s what this bill would change.” Rep. Virginia Court, D-Billings, said her grandson had a hole in his heart when he was born but that a physician didn’t tell his parents about the malady until years later. He’s now on oxygen, after undergoing open-heart surgery at 4 years old, when the defect could have been fixed earlier, she said. HB405 essentially lets physicians determine the “standard of care” they’re supposed to follow, she said. “What of the victims who are left behind?” Court said. “This could happen to your child, your son, your daughter.” Rep. Dick Barrett, D-Missoula, said America does have too much health care being delivered, which is one reason for the high cost of medicine — but that much of that care is demanded by patients or authorized by physicians and other providers that get paid by the procedure. “We shouldn’t be very confident that we’re going to actually tackle the problems of costs with this bill,” he said. Taylor said she has great sympathy for those who’ve been injured by medical errors but that HB405 doesn’t prevent a legitimate lawsuit. She said defensive medicine is a “uniquely American problem,” and that a primary difference between the U.S. and European health care systems is much stricter liability standards in Europe, which has “much more efficient and cheaper systems.”
