CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 9, 2004 – LAWFUEL – Doctors for Medical Liability
Reform (DMLR), a leading coalition of over 230,000 medical specialists
dedicated to national medical liability reform, continued their aggressive,
multi-million dollar campaign in North Carolina today. The campaign will
advocate the passage of national medical liability reform, which is currently
blocked in the U.S. Senate by a handful of votes.
The Protect Patients Now in North Carolina campaign has already connected
with thousands of citizens throughout the state, and today its 30-minute
newsmagazine will begin airing across the state on both network and cable
television. The message in the newsmagazine is clear: North Carolina is
facing an unprecedented access-to-healthcare crisis, preventing injured
patients and expecting mothers from receiving the critical care that they
need.
Dr. Craig Van Der Veer, member of Protect Patients Now in North Carolina,
notes that the campaign has been very active since February and is excited
about continuing its outreach to North Carolinians.
“The patients of North Carolina need to know that there is a serious
access-to-healthcare crisis,” Van Der Veer said. “They need to know that the
solution is being prevented by a handful of U.S. Senators. I think our
campaign is a public service to all of the patients needing access to critical
healthcare in North Carolina.”
Other components of the campaign will include print and radio ads,
directly targeting those who can change the course of North Carolina’s
healthcare system, U.S. Senate candidates Richard Burr, Republican, and
Erskine Bowles, Democrat.
Burr has signed the DMLR pledge to protect patients now and would vote for
a reasonable cap on non-economic damages if he is elected to the Senate. In
fact, as a U.S. Congressman, Burr voted for a bill that passed meaningful
medical liability reform, but the bill was blocked in the U.S. Senate by a
handful of Democratic Senators.
“We are very pleased that Richard Burr is on the side of patients,” Van
Der Veer said. “He understands the magnitude of the crisis, and we are
optimistic that other candidates for the U.S. Senate will follow suit with a
sign of support for North Carolina’s patients.”
DMLR is a coalition of over 230,000 specialty physicians dedicated to the
passage of national medical liability reform that is currently being stalled
in the U.S. Senate. To learn more about the DMLR campaign, please log on to:
http://www.protectpatientsnow.org.
