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Committee hears testimony for bill to create medical panels in probate and family court
Summary
Supporters told the Joint Committee on the Judiciary that Senate Bill 1102 would give judges neutral medical expertise in contested guardianship and custody proceedings; multiple parents, clinicians and advocates urged a favorable report, describing cases where disputed medical decisions harmed children and vulnerable adults.
Chair Lydia Edwards and House Chair Michael Day convened testimony on Senate Bill 1102, an act to establish three-physician medical panels to advise judges in contested probate and family court proceedings.
Proponents told the committee the panels would fill a gap in cases where medical questions are central to custody or guardianship decisions. "This bill gives probate and family court judges a vital tool, the ability to convene impartial medical panels to answer medical questions in contested guardianship and custody cases," said Paola Rosetti, a Boston resident, during her testimony. Rosetti said judges currently "often [are] left to decide medical questions of fact" without neutral expertise.
The panel model was presented as similar to an…
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