S1805

28 Feb: Vitale Health Care Responsibility And Reporting Bill Advances

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Joseph F. Vitale, known as the “Health Care Professional Responsibility and Reporting Enhancement Act,” which would require greater peer reporting of incompetence and negligence in the wake of the Charles Cullen murders of patients under his care as a nurse was approved by the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee today.

“In the health care field, we’re still shaken by the proficiency and effectiveness with which Charles Cullen exploited the system and avoided notice to kill an alleged 40 patients under his care,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex, the chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. “The only way this could have happened is through a complete systemic breakdown of the safety net designed to keep killers away from vulnerable patients. We must take the steps to ensure that the safety net is intact, and that patients are protected from murderers while in the care of health care facilities.”