Sunday, December 24, 2023

Patient Safety or Payment from a Lawsuit

 


December 23, 2023

The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Hochul,

I watched with interest the news that “Grieving families across New York are fighting what they call an injustice”.  The decades old law that limits payouts in wrongful death lawsuits based on the persons age and / or financial worth. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/new-york-grieving-families-act/

This fight has been going on so long and I for one, lived it when my young son bled to death following a tonsillectomy over 30 years ago.  I didn’t need the money, my son was dead, I wanted answers as to how this happened and without a lawsuit, no one would talk.  There is an important piece missing.  The lawsuit happens after the death.  We need to avoid the death to begin with and one reason I believe death from medical errors are so high is because the public is not prepared to be patients. 

In 1996 we started Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy a small grassroots organization based on Long Island, New York to educate the public to be a support and advocate for each other for the best outcomes in care.  Learning how errors happen (something many survivors want to know) and how to avoid medical injury needs the attention we have never received.  Whether it is for older adults, cancer, lupus, epilepsy, mental illness, disabilities, broken bones or rare diseases, learning patient advocacy can save lives and reduce lawsuits following death or injury. So, while there is a discussion about payment after a wrongful death, please consider the work we have been doing for 25 years to avoid the injuries and death within the healthcare system, by educating the public to begin with.

 

Sincerely. Ilene Corina, BCPA

President, Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy

www.PulseCenterforPatientSafety.org

icorina@pulsecpsea.org

516.579.4711


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