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HARRISBURG – Senate Majority Whip Jeffrey E. Piccola (R-15) was named today Legislator of the Year for 2005 by the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society (POS) for his leadership and commitment to supporting excellence in medicine including efforts to reform the Commonwealth’s lawsuit abuse crisis.
During their annual scientific meeting in Pittsburgh, POS honored Piccola for his efforts to reduce medical liability insurance premiums, eliminate frivolous lawsuits, and set reasonable limits on non-economic damages, otherwise known as “pain and suffering” awards. Piccola is the first senator to receive the award, which recognizes an outstanding commitment to orthopaedic medicine in Pennsylvania.
Throughout his career, Piccola has worked diligently for the passage of reforms to restore fairness, common sense, and personal responsibility to Pennsylvania’s civil justice system. This advocacy includes the recent step taken to reenact the joint and several liability law, a landmark tort reform measure that was struck down by a court decision earlier this year. Joint and several liability is the archaic legal doctrine whereby those with minimal responsibility can be held liable for most or all damages, often times based only on the party’s ability to pay and not actual culpability.
“Our Commonwealth has some of the finest medical schools in the country, but unfortunately our young medical students and residents won’t be staying here to practice medicine! They are fleeing the excessive malpractice premiums and litigation prone climate of Pennsylvania. Practices are also shrinking as physicians retire early or relocate to jurisdictions with lower premiums. Consequently, Pennsylvanians are waiting much longer to see specialists such as our orthopedic surgeons,” said Piccola.
“I am honored to be the first member of the Pennsylvania Senate to receive this award and welcome the opportunity to tackle additional, meaningful tort reform so that we can preserve world class specialty medical care in this state,” he added.
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