PRESS RELEASE

April 30, 2007                                                                        
For more information contact: 
Jack J. Beller, MD (405) 641-9428
Ken King, OSMA Executive Director (405) 843-9571

 

The Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA) which represents over 5000 physicians and medical students in Oklahoma is supremely disappointed that Governor Brad Henry vetoed lawsuit reform legislation on Saturday. This bill (SB 507) contained reforms of a broken, out-of-control lawsuit system in Oklahoma which is forcing physicians in Oklahoma to limit medical care to citizens in Oklahoma because of the fear of frivolous lawsuits.

SB 507 contained common-sense reforms which had been passed with by-partisan support in both the Oklahoma State Senate and the Oklahoma State House of Representatives. The provisions in SB 507 closely followed the proposals of Governor Henry in his State of the State address in January 2004 and had the support of a wide range of medical and business entities in Oklahoma. We wonder what has changed the Governor’s mind in the last three years since he endorsed “Texas Plus” reform of the lawsuit system in Oklahoma. His action in vetoing SB507 was not in the best interest of the citizens of Oklahoma but was in the best interest of the pocketbooks of the personal injury trial lawyers in Oklahoma and those from Texas who have now come into Oklahoma since Texas’s lawsuit reform was passed in 2004.

Is it going to take a full-blown crisis in access to medical care in Oklahoma to convince the Governor to agree to common-sense reforms? For the sake of Oklahomans seeking needed medical care, we hope not!

 

 

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