Spectrum News 1: Hochul: Exempt medical malpractice in wrongful death expansion

By: Nick Reisman

A proposed compromise by Gov. Kathy Hochul to exempt medical malpractice claims in a measure that is meant to expand New York's wrongful death statute was rejected by state lawmakers hours after it was floated. 

Hochul made the 11th hour proposal to what has been a hotly contested measure that would allow someone to bring a wrongful death claim based on emotional suffering and anguish, which is a broader standard than the current requirement to show financial losses due to a loved one's death. 

"This is an incredibly emotional and complex issue, and one that must be handled with thoughtfulness and balance: our goal must be to deliver justice for grieving families without sending the economy into distress," Hochul wrote in an op/ed published on Monday morning by The Daily News. 

Hochul proposed an amendment to the provision that would allow the parents of children who have died in accidents "the opportunity to seek meaningful accountability for their heart-wrenching loss" while exempting medical malpractice claims for now. 

The governor has until midnight to act on the measure into law. 

State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, the Democratic sponsors of the pending bill, rejected the idea. 

“As the deadline for the governor to sign our Grieving Families Act is only hours away, we’re extremely disappointed that the governor hasn’t engaged in any serious discussion with her partners in the state Legislature," the lawmakers said in a joint statement. "Instead, the governor has proposed a half-baked compromise that would only delay long overdue reforms to this archaic 175-year-old law while protecting negligent corporations and institutions from any accountability."

A debate over the expansion of the statute has been ongoing since last year when lawmakers approved the measure. On the one side, local government entities, lawsuit reform organizations and doctors' groups have urged Hochul to veto it. Groups in favor include the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus and families of those who died in the mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo. 

The Greater New York Hospital Association, however, praised Hochul's stance. 

"With New York State already a troubling outlier when it comes to malpractice payouts, GNYHA also appreciates the Governor’s sensible suggestion that the bill be amended to exempt medical malpractice claims," the group said. "Many safety net hospitals already can’t afford malpractice insurance and instead fund their liability costs through operations. Governor Hochul wisely recognizes that tort changes that will push our hospitals to the financial brink are not in anyone’s best interest, and that if one element of our tort system is to be amended in favor of plaintiffs, there must be other balancing reforms to avoid diminishing access to care."