Ballot Measure Aims at Patient Safety by Raising Limits on Malpractice Suits

In a California Healthline report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed the arguments surrounding Proposition 46, a November ballot measure designed to improve patient safety by targeting physicians — raising the pain-and-suffering limit on malpractice lawsuits, requiring drug-testing of doctors and mandating use of a drug-reporting system that currently is voluntary.

The report includes comments from:

Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, the main backer of the ballot initiative;
Amitabh Chandra, a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government;
Cathy Frey, CEO of the Central Valley Health Network; and
Richard Thorp, president of the California Medical Association (Goldberg, California Healthline, 8/20/14)

You can download a PDF of this report.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Ballot Measure Aims at Patient Safety by Raising Limits on Malpractice Suits</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2014-08-19T11:46:00-07:00">
			August 19, 2014		</time>
		</div>
<p>In a <em>California Healthline </em>report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed the arguments surrounding Proposition 46, a November ballot measure designed to improve patient safety by targeting physicians — raising the pain-and-suffering limit on malpractice lawsuits, requiring drug-testing of doctors and mandating use of a drug-reporting system that currently is voluntary.</p><p>The report includes comments from:</p><ul><li>Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, the main backer of the ballot initiative;</li><li>Amitabh Chandra, a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government;</li><li>Cathy Frey, CEO of the Central Valley Health Network; and</li><li>Richard Thorp, president of the California Medical Association (Goldberg, <em>California Healthline</em>, 8/20/14)</li></ul><p>You can <a href="https://californiahealthline.org/legacy/1805B978-EC7D-40CB-A668-417C8FA459C9">download a PDF</a> of this report.</p><ul><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/ballot-measure-aims-at-patient-safety-by-raising-limits-on-malpractice-suits/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/ballot-measure-aims-at-patient-safety-by-raising-limits-on-malpractice-suits/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/ballot-measure-aims-at-patient-safety-by-raising-limits-on-malpractice-suits/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Ballot%20Measure%20Aims%20at%20Patient%20Safety%20by%20Raising%20Limits%20on%20Malpractice%20Suits&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fballot-measure-aims-at-patient-safety-by-raising-limits-on-malpractice-suits%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/ballot-measure-aims-at-patient-safety-by-raising-limits-on-malpractice-suits/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/ballot-measure-aims-at-patient-safety-by-raising-limits-on-malpractice-suits/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

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