Medical open disclosure legislation
Deputy Naughten asks about promised medical open-disclosure legislation, citing families seeking answers through the courts. The Tánaiste will obtain information from the Health Minister and reply.
Every year, families are dragged through the courts at significant cost to the Exchequer because they are trying to get answers about instances of medical malpractice. The Tánaiste will recall the case of baby Mark Molloy, whose parents, Mark and Roisin, needed to go through the courts to get some answers about his death. It was the Portlaoise babies incident, which was exposed by "Prime Time" earlier in the year. At the time, the then Minister for Health promised the introduction of medical (open disclosure) legislation later this year. However, it does not seem to be on the legislative programme. When will it be published? It would allow families to get the truth of what happened to their loved ones without needing to go through the courts and entering into confidentiality clauses and without the State needing to fork out large sums of money. All that people are looking for is the truth.
