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As summer drew to its end and autumn started with its glorious change of leaves, the specter of medical malpractice reform in New Jersey remained in a virtual state of REM sleep. The legislature, namely the Assembly had done a passive wake up on the Senate Bill A-50 as a probable pre-conceived plan of (in)action. The Governor has remained remarkably removed from this real and apparent threat to the citizen’s of our state. And the medical leadership of MSNJ and grassroots counties determined that another full-scale walkout/ strike action on October 7th would not achieve the goals set for it at June’s inauspicious conclusion of the legislative session. Some of you may have seen the national coverage of our plight chronicled in Medical Economics in the September issue and in other national periodicals. Clearly, we are not alone in this struggle.
Fortunately, political action in the form of selective activity in districts with Assembly members who opposed our calls to real and substantive reforms did surface in a real way. It remains to be seen at this time whether this will result in a desired power change in the lower house in order to realistically post A-50 for a true and non-political vote which our lobbyists suggest would result in passage of a compromise bill that we could all live with. So, our membership has, appropriately so, backed off to spectator status for a time to watch the cards “play out” this fall. From my perspective as County President, I have been enlightened by the groundswell of interest in medical malpractice reform but I have also been disheartened by the sad and rather trivialized nature of legislative backroom dealings that seem to have characterized this entire dealing in the Senate and Assembly. Where we will be able to steer this action beyond the November election is a matter of debate for us all as your leaders. The editorials of the Star ledger and other newspapers continue to show apparent bias and naiveté about this complex but vital issue facing organized medicine. Perhaps after the election, we will see more balanced reporting on the pros and cons of legislative tort reform. Rest assured, however, that we will not let it die a quick death and that whatever new endeavors that are required to rekindle the flames of reform will be struck as soon as reasonable and winning strategies can be established in the hopeful days of winter ahead of us. On other fronts, the Executive committee of the Morris County Medical Society remains busy as ever discussing issues of reimbursement reform for the state and we have met with legislative leaders and challengers to make our case forcefully to all who would listen to us. As I have stated in the past, it is certainly an exciting time to be practicing medicine in New Jersey; too exciting I might add for us. |
 Returning to County level concerns, we have exciting meetings scheduled for November and December deliberately timed post-election so that we can re-think an action strategy after the public casts their ballots. At the Fall meeting we will have speakers address some of these specific topics and a legislative session with our county leaders will follow in December. I wanted to take this opportunity to inform the general membership of a recent action of your Board. We have taken the unusual and ethically high road in refusing to have any major (i.e. greater than 49 %) sponsorship of any county activity. In these tight financial times, such a move is likely to cost us a few more dollars in outlays however, we will ALL as physician members be able to stand tall and true that no meeting or activity will have significant conflicts of interest from outside sources. I hope that other county and state societies will take similar such steps in the days ahead so that our public will continue to find the physicians of this state as the true leaders of society as a whole. Once again, I ask each and every one of you to stay interested, focused and vigilant about the political fights ahead and support your physician leadership with rhetoric in your offices, with time on committees and with appropriate donations to MedAC and JEMPAC as well. Thank you for the trust you have shown in me and in our Executive committee’s leadership for our County. Arnold I. Pallay, M.D.
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