Consumer Law

Mr. Cuomo if you?re nasty

By Joe Consumer

Yesterday, the Center for Justice & Democracy filed an ethics complaint with New York?s Commission on Public Integrity, asking them to investigate several key individuals on Governor Cuomo?s Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT).  As the complaint notes, the employers of these individuals ? hospitals ? ?will receive a substantial financial benefit from MRT Proposal 131, a proposal that limits the liability of negligent hospitals and health care providers and which has been made part of the Governor?s Budget.?  As we noted before, a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages and a brain-damaged baby fund are not just part of the budget ? they are hardwired in there thanks to these hospital lobbyists.   (See coverage here, here, here, here.)

This was nothing personal and not even attack on the Governor.  But his chief guy on the MRT, Jim Itrone, shot back with quite a statement: 

"In one of the most absurd stunts, a group has called upon the Commission on Public Integrity to investigate members of the Medicaid Redesign Team for doing what they were asked to do, namely, represent their own interests as part of a stakeholder process. This group, the Center for Justice and Democracy, is devoted to fighting against tort reform of any and all kinds and is closely allied with the trial lawyers. Indeed one of their members, Erin Brockovich, is a paid publicity person for plaintiff's lawyers. The MRT members were not engaged as 'public officers' but as 'stakeholders' -- meaning they represented their own business interests in an advisory capacity. If the Center for Justice is sincere in their belief that members of the MRT violated the public officers law, how do they explain the fact that they served the same role and therefore committed the same violation when they were a member of Governor Spitzer's Medical Malpractice Liability Taskforce in 2007. By the Center's own analysis, they are guilty and we call on the COPI to take action."

(Now, that's not very nice.  A bit nasty, wouldn?t you say?  A little uncalled for, perhaps?  And by the way, isn?t that what the movie was about?) 

CJ&D's Executive Director, Joanne Doroshow, responded:

?Mr. Introne, after attacking Erin Brockovich, we fully expect you to start attacking moms and babies.  Oh wait, you have already done that.  We would like to challenge you to release an affidavit swearing under oath that Medicaid Redesign Team members Jeffrey A. Sachs, paid consultant to large hospitals and health care systems; Michael Dowling, President and CEO of North Shore LIJ Health System; Kenneth E.  Raske, President of the Greater New York Hospital Association; and Dan Sisto, President of the Healthcare Association of New York State, have not acted in a manner benefiting their specific employer by voting to permanently cap damages to medical malpractice victims, and transferring the responsibility for monetary damages in brain-damaged babies cases away from negligent hospitals and health care providers and onto insurance consumers.  If there has been no such benefit, we would be happy to reconsider our position.  If not, we will await the Commission?s findings.  And by the way, after you apply the facts to the law, that sound you'll hear is the steel trap closing on you.?

We?re just saying, permanently stripping patients of their legal rights is a huge financial windfall for the hospitals and has nothing to do with Medicaid cuts and shouldn?t have been part of this process and raises some serious ethical issues.  What are we missing?

Full post as published by ThePopTort on March 09, 2011 (boomark / email).