Pennsylvania physicians, hospital executives and other providers may now apologize and offer other benevolent gestures to patients, their families and representatives without such statements becoming evidence against them in medical malpractice suits. On October 23, 2013, Governor Corbett signed Senate Bill 379 into law which renders "benevolent gestures" inadmissible as evidence of liability in a malpractice suit.
This evidentiary rule has been championed as a type of medical tort reform intended to encourage frank discussions with patients and residents as well as their relatives and representatives. Commentators are divided, however, as to whether the measure will actually reduce the number of medical malpractice suits filed in the state.… Continue Reading
