Gov. Kathy Hochul waited ’til the last day to do the right thing and veto the Grieving Families Act — whose proper name would be more like the Greedy Lawyers Act.
The bill aimed to vastly expand who could sue, when and for what damages in a wrongful-death civil suit — on the theory (so popular with ambulance-chasers) that endless lawsuits (with a 30% cut for the lawyers) are the road to a perfect society.
The thing is, New York already has the nation’s most expensive liability insurance, or nearly so. This would send premiums soaring higher still, giving businesses yet another reason to stay out of the Empire State.
The jolt to medical providers alone would not only add to all health-care costs, but send doctors fleeing to more friendly climes.
Hochul sought a compromise that would ban the new rules in alleged medical-malpractice cases and for deaths of over-18s, but the Legislature wasn’t interested. Presumably, the trial attorneys driving this agenda will be back pushing some other “reform” in the name of “justice for victims” that in reality is about nothing more than lining the legal sharks’ own pockets.
Good on the gov for shooting this menace down.