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Bill: The Billy Gordon Bill
Details
Submitted by[?]: Common Sense and Decency Party
Status[?]: defeated
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: September 2442
Description[?]:
| Billy Gordon was a bright, vivacious 8 year old enjoying a wonderful Dorvish existance. He was a straight-A student who mowed lawns and donated 10% of his earnings to the local homeless shelter, ran a lemonade stand to raise money for Christmas presents for less fortunate children, and was always bringing injured animals home to nurse back to health. All that ended when he was struck by a drunk driver late in 2440 and sent to the emergency room. Dr. Rika Paveet was on duty in the ER that day, and by all eyewitness accounts was under the influence of some sort of substance. He worked on little Seth that day, but Seth never recovered from what experts say was a completely treatable set of injuries. Seth's anguished parents appealed to the medical regulatory body, but to no avail. The regulatory commission cleared Dr. Paveet of any wrongdoing or negligence, and Seth's parents were left with crushing grief, more questions than answers, and a huge hospital bill. It is high time that this nation allows grievfing family members the option to initiate litigation against medical professionals who are complicit in taking away their loved ones. The Billy Gordon Bill seeks to empower the average citizen to make irresponsible practitioners realize the consequences of their negligence. Because of Dr. Paveet and his connections on the regulatory commission, Billy lies unavenged in his too-small coffin while Dr. Paveet continues to enjoy a well-paid position. We of the Common Sense Party say that common sense dictates that we give the Gordons of the nation back their rights to defend themselves and their family from malpractice. |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Malpractice suits.
Old value:: Only a medical regulatory body can prosecute a doctor for malpractice.
Current: Malpractice suits may be brought against doctors.
Proposed: Malpractice suits may be brought against doctors only if death occurs.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 14:56:43, August 10, 2007 CET | From | Common Sense and Decency Party | To | Debating the The Billy Gordon Bill |
| Message | Please make little Billy's tragic death mean something. |
| Date | 20:13:06, August 10, 2007 CET | From | Noordelijk Bevrijding Front | To | Debating the The Billy Gordon Bill |
| Message | Lol. I'll agree, primarily due to the story of little Billy. :-) |
| Date | 03:45:19, August 11, 2007 CET | From | Democratic Labour and Unionist Party | To | Debating the The Billy Gordon Bill |
| Message | OOC: It is Dorvish damn it! The boy was Dorvish not Dorvikian! cute story though. IC: The DLUP shall review supporting the measure. |
| Date | 16:30:36, August 11, 2007 CET | From | Democratic Labour and Unionist Party | To | Debating the The Billy Gordon Bill |
| Message | The Ministry of Health and Social Services finds several problems with this bill. First, it actually reduces the number of malpractice cases that can be brought, as it limits such cases only to those involving death, and the overwhelming majority of malpractice cases do not involve death. Second, the reason for having a medical regulatory body being the intermediary between he defendants and the plaintiffs is that it prevents frivolous malpractice suites and helps keep Dorvik's doctors from being overburdened with unnecessary malpractice insurance. For these reasons I urge the Parties of Dorvik to vote against this bill. The Rt. Hon. Anne Gregory, Minister of Health and Social Services |
| Date | 16:19:08, August 12, 2007 CET | From | Supreme Party of the Republic | To | Debating the The Billy Gordon Bill |
| Message | The National Union Party finds some problems with this bill. First, it doesn`t face the real problem that has motivated the bill. The bill should have focused on taking all malpractice cases as a goal not just the ones involving death. Second, the bill must have been explicit about the measures that are going to be adopted against frivolous malpractice suits. For this reasons the National Union Party will follow the Democratic Labour and Unionist Party and vote against this bill. |
| Date | 17:20:47, August 15, 2007 CET | From | Moderate Party of The Free Republic | To | Debating the The Billy Gordon Bill |
| Message | But Malpractise does not purely contain death, it contain all kinds of horrible things that can happen to a patient that they may need compensating for yet this bill does not protect them. |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | ||||
| yes | Total Seats: 67 | ||||
| no |
Total Seats: 79 | ||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 253 |
| Random fact: Cabinet ministers who disagree seriously with the head of government would usually be expected to resign. Parties within the cabinet may attempt to manoeuvre to replace the head of government though, for example by proposing a new cabinet bill or voting for an early election. |
| Random quote: "Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." - Ronald Reagan |