By State Senator Patricia Jehlen

Many of the bills I file are based on local people’s experiences and local needs. In November, Peter DeMarco wrote a moving and disturbing Globe Magazine account, Losing Laura, of his wife’s death from an asthma attack while trying to get into the Somerville Hospital Emergency Department.

Cambridge Health Alliance has taken steps to remedy some of the flaws that led to that tragedy. Rep. Christine Barber and I have been working with Peter to try to prevent future incidents.

This bill [S956] requires the Department of Public Health to draft regulations about safe access to emergency departments, ensuring that entrances are monitored at all hours, signage is clear, lighting is bright, and wayfaring for patients is easily navigable. A working group would investigate other remedies, including the adequacy of fines for violations.

The legislation would be called “Laura’s Law,” in honor of Laura Levis, who lived with Peter in Somerville.

S956 is also based on the Losing Laura article. It would increase damages that could be awarded for cases that involve serious injury or death as a result of medical malpractice. Because of a hospital’s failures after his birth, the Keene family’s son, now 32, has the mental abilities of a 6-month-old, is a quadriplegic and blind.

The family can’t sue for significant damages to cover some of their costs because of a $100K liability cap for any actions against non-profit or public hospitals, which are most hospitals in Massachusetts. If serious injury or death occurs at a for profit hospital the cap on damages can be completely removed by a jury.

With the $100,000 cap, it’s almost impossible for a family to recover any compensation for the loss or permanent disability of their loved one, due to the cost of litigation. This bill would increase damages that could be awarded for cases that involve serious injury or death as a result of medical malpractice and create equality under our state laws for those most victimized regardless of which hospital they choose.