“Policymakers must be thoughtful and act in the public interest. That includes weighing the benefit of continued liability safeguards,” writes Ross E. Weber of the AACU.
“The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency spurred swift adoption of long-sought public policies that have transformed the health care system. Patients are embracing telemedicine. Advanced practitioners are enjoying expanded authority. Providers are being granted a reprieve from ineffective liability laws. As the pandemic plateaus and we become accustomed to a “new normal,” the question becomes which changes will stay and which will go. Regrettably, state-by-state, shields from clinically constraining medical liability statutes are among the first emergency measures to be withdrawn.”