Conway indicates support for limited tort reform

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jack Conway wants to see some changes to the state’s litigation system to ensure the validity of cases before they move forward.

At the Farm Bureau candidate forum, Conway stated there are areas of tort reform he believes need to be addressed. Namely, Conway noted the fact that many out of state firms are targeting Kentucky’s nursing homes and said something needs to be done about the issue.

As for what steps the state can take, Conway stated at the forum he is not going to close access to the courts, but something has to be done to make certain Kentucky isn’t a place friendly to volume litigation.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has pushed for medical review panel legislation, which would put a panel of three doctors—one picked by each side of the case and a third chosen by the other two doctors—to examine the evidence of the case and give an expert review before the case goes to court.

However, Conway said he does not believe medical review panels are the way to address the state’s litigation issues.

“What I would support is measures and changes to our civil procedures system in the area of nursing home litigation. We do have too many out of state firms coming in and doing nothing but a volume business in nursing home cases. So I support a change in procedures on the front end to make plaintiffs acquire a state expert certified with the court on the front end, if the case is meritorious then have a preliminary hearing in front of the judge to make certain the case, in nursing home litigation, to make sure they are meritorious before they move forward,” Conway said.

Conway also discussed other tort reform issues in the interview. Watch the segment below:

In the Kentucky Chamber’s Primary Voter Guide, Conway made a similar statement that suggested he wants to address the issues but did not offer specifics as to how the litigation issues can be fixed.

The Kentucky Chamber will be releasing a General Election Voter Guide in the coming weeks. Keep checking kychamberbottomline.com to see where the candidates stand on this and many other issues.