02/11/2021
Should your surgeon be immune from liability if he/she accidentally operates on the wrong body part, leaves an instrument in your body, or overlooks your spouse's tumor? Should the beer truck driver be immune if he accidentally runs over your kid at a crosswalk? Some of our Kentucky legislators think such relief from accountability is appropriate during the Covid pandemic. (See Senate Bill 5).
When someone is injured, there is a cost (sometime a tremendous cost) to that person, his/her spouse, children, employer, church, and community. The free market has devised insurance as a means to account for this cost. SB 5 shifts the costs of negligence from the wrongdoer to the victim. This bill is designed to protect the bottom line of insurance companies at the expense of those injured by negligence.
This bill is morally wrong (and unconstitutional).
