For Injured Patients, “Health Act” is Bad Medicine

Jim Carey is leading critic of bill passed by House committee

On February 16th, a House Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would make it nearly impossible for lawyers to help injured people in medical malpractice, pharmaceutical product liability cases and nursing home abuse cases.
Our partner, Jim Carey, who serves as president of the Minnesota Association for Justice, is leading the local effort to fight H.R. 5, which would, among other things, shield drug companies from punitive damages, cap non-economic damages at $250,000, shorten the statute of limitations and provides an installment payment plan to the drug and insurance industries for damages over $50,000.

In a recent article appearing in Minnesota Lawyer, Jim pulled no punches in his critique of the so-called “Health Act.”

“Off the chart extreme,” is how he described the bill. “The sole purpose of the limitations (in the proposed law) is to prevent lawyers from taking meritorious claims.”

Also quoted in the article is Gibson Vance, president of the American Association for Justice who labeled the bill “welfare to drug and insurance companies.”

We applaud the efforts of Jim and the fellow members of the Association for Justice who are fighting to preserve victims’ rights in medical-related cases.

Cory P. Whalen
Attorney At Law
Sieben, Grose, Von Holtum & Carey
800 Marquette Avenue, Suite 900
Minneapolis, MN 55402
612-333-9782