Nobody fall over or anything but I have something nice to say about Daylin Leach. Regular readers will remember that I have been pretty hard on him and, I think, rightly so. However, during my recent romp through some of the spring issues of the House Journal I found this (May 11, 2005, p. 1017-1018) regarding SB69, an act providing for employer immunity from liability for disclosure of information regarding former or current employees.
Mr. Leach: Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment on this bill which was originally part of a bill I drafted called the Physicians Apology Act, which says that if there is a bad outcome in a medical case, if the physician has a discussion with the family or the person who was the subject of the bad outcome and there is a discussion of the events or even an apology for a mistake made, that conversation could not be used agains the physician at trial.
Frequently medical malpractice suits are filed out of frustration because people cannot get answers. In States that have done this, that have created a physician apology immunity, lawsuits, the filings of medical malpractice suits, have dropped 20 to 30 percent.
So I think this would be a good thing to do for Pennsylvania. However, for today I am withdrawing this amendment, Mr. Speaker, so that we can run this bill clean, and I look forward to the opportunity to have a vote on this amendment in the near future.
Thank you.
I have no idea if this legislation has been introduced in another form. It is a good idea and should be considered in some form. However, I did put together some links if anyone else is interested in reading about physician apology laws. Like Leach, my understanding is that people often do file malpractice suits just because there is no other way to find out what happened.
Here are a medical (Cohen, Jonathan R. "Toward Candor After Error: The First Medical Apology Law," Harvard Health Policy Review 5 #1 spr 2004: 21-24) and a legal article (O'Hara, Erin Ann. Apology and Thick Trust: What Spouse abusers and neligent doctors might have in common. Chicago-Kent Law Review 79-3 1055-1089 2004) . Info from Maryland, considering similar legislation. A note from a doctor's blog. Here is a newspaper article (Medical apology law may surface By Jennifer Ryan, East Valley Tribune January 8, 2005). Here (Five States Pass Medical Liability Reform Legislation By Leslie Champlin 6/9/2005 American Academy of Family Physicans News and Publications) is more info.
Best of all, here is a really long list of articles and other sources on the topic.
All this being said, I still cannot find it in my heart to think really well of Leach, so don't expect a lot of "Daylin is wonderful" posts.
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6 comments:
Daylin Leach is amongst the most intelligent representatives in Harrisburg and is without a doubt one of the most progressive. He is also the biggest trouble maker, never afraid to throw a haymaker or produce inflamatory language. His Dutch Larroo work was certainly ill-advised, but if Daylin loses in 2006 (which I don't think will happen), a great mind falls out of the house. The combination of his biting sense of humor and his keen intelligence got him into trouble.
If you need a sample of his work, look at areas surrounding environmental protection, criminal justice reform and other areas of legal reform. He's produced winning policy and framed it in a way that the GOP leadership has to like it.
I do not question that he is booksmart but the general word "intelligence" is certainly open to question. Who in their right mind would, in a post 9/11 world, say this:
"Sure, I may have experimented with some things that were illegal as a youth. Treason for example. But now I'm walking the straight and narrow." (leachvent March 05, 2005)
This really doesn't strike me as all that bright. It doesn't strike me as a biting sense of humor or keen intelligence. It strikes me as "sit on the stove" stupid.
Nor was he going into this blind, as he says in his March 8 posting:
"It's been a while. After I was elected to the legislature, I was encouraged to put the Vent on hold for a while, if death threats can be considered encouragement. Some worried I might say something that would speed up the inevitable impeachment process. Others worried I would say something that might slow it down."
If the people in his district want to re-elect him that is their business. I will say again, if he were my state rep I would be sorely disappointed and curtail any activity that would bring me into contact with him.
Absolutely... poor taste, ill advised and more. But his policy prowess is simply top-notch. The guy is in the minority party and manages time and again to get changes enacted while the rest of the Dem leadership sits on their duff hoping the governor will take charge. And it's not just booksmarts. The guy gets policy in a way that maybe a 1/2 dozen other folks in Harrisburg do. But yeah, dumb stuff.
I guess if anything, he has a fall back career working for The Daily Show. I've always taken his commentary and musings in the same light: sometimes I think there is a need to step back and look at government through irreverance.
Everybody has his/her downfall and Daylin's is that he is too open and brash in his hobby of satire.
Again, we who are not somehow connected to government cannot verify what you say or examine the evidence to either come to the same conclusion or disagree. Show me where I can find a list of bills he has been the primary sponsor of, how he has voted, and what he has brought about and I will make a thorough review. We need a more transparent government.
This guy is not talking about government, he is talking about young girls, porn and smoking hashish.
"Daylin Leach is amongst the most intelligent representatives in Harrisburg " "a great mind falls"?
What intelligent, moral person writes this kind of stuff? This guy is a frustrated lawyer, turned politician who is trying to be funny so that he can feel that he "fits in". The problem is that he has alienated his constituants, his party and his supporters.
What do you think he wanted to spend his unvouchered expenses on? See the first paragraph.
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