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SPONSOR: |
Rep. DiLiberto & Rep. Keeley & |
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Sen. Blevins |
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 141st GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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HOUSE BILL NO. 624 |
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AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MEDICAL REVIEW BOARD RECORDS AND PUBLIC SCRUTINY OF MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE. |
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend Title 24 of the Delaware Code by striking §1768(b) in its entirety.
SYNOPSIS
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Most Delaware hospitals and nursing homes require staff to report known incidents of medical negligence to an in-house staff person or committee. Although this information may be of critical importance to the patient, the health care providers refuse to release the evidence of malpractice, even if subpoenaed, choosing instead to use Title 24 of the Delaware Code, §1768(b) as a shield against public scrutiny. Patients should have the right to know when they have been the victims of a medical error. Title 24 of the Delaware Code, §1768(b) not only sanctions the official cover-up of medical errors, but permits the health care provider to take contradictory positions in the secret peer review process versus the public forum in litigation. The right to know what has happened to one's own body should be a basic right of any patient. One Delaware court decision dealing with this statute commented that "privileges are repugnant to the adversarial judicial system in the United States [and] that the public has the right to every man's evidence…." Connolly v. Labowitz, C.A. No. 83C-AU-1, Bifferato, J. (Del. Super. Ct., Dec. 17, 1984). No other profession or business in Delaware enjoys this secrecy privilege. |