Guam senators hear emotional testimony as bill would replace mandatory arbitration with court prescreening

Senators on the General Government Operations and Appropriations committee heard more than two hours of testimony June 24 on a bill that would replace Guam's mandatory medical-malpractice arbitration with a judge-run prescreening process and make other procedural changes to how claims proceed.

The bill, described in testimony as a version of measures previously introduced in past Guam legislatures, would require plaintiffs to notify providers 45 days before filing and then submit claims to a court prescreening by a judge rather than to a mandatory arbitration panel. Supporters said the change would lower cost and access barriers for injured patients; opponents and some witnesses warned about insurance-cost and implementation questions.

Supporters said the current arbitration system and required advance fees make it effectively impossible for many patients to pursue claims. Maria Espinosa, a witness who identified herself as the mother of a son who was hospitalized and later died, testified that mandated arbitration and the up-front costs deterred lawyers and left families with little option. "I lovingly took care of my son for 8 years before he passed away," Espinosa said. She described being told an advance fee of about $50,000 would be required under current rules and that arbitration costs left little money for long-term care.

Robert Celestial, another witness, described a separate post-procedure hospitalization that left him on dialysis and unable to find attorneys willing to take his case. "I just went in for a biopsy, come out, almost died," Celestial said, adding he was told arbitration would cost about $40,000. Both witnesses urged senators to pass the bill to improve accountability and access to compensation.

Physician and regulatory witnesses acknowledged insurance and process concerns during questioning. A doctor on the panel said he was not aware of detailed malpractice statistics for the island but noted that, in many hospital credentialing systems, proof of malpractice insurance is required and that without insurance there is a risk claimants will not be fully compensated. The same witness said, "the court system as a whole is more costly and slower," but that prescreening conducted by a judge could reduce some expenses by replacing private arbitration panels.

Committee members asked the Guam Board of Medical Examiners for counts of complaints and for records showing whether board actions have resulted in sanctions; witnesses said those records were not available at the hearing and that the board had not provided a requested insurance-reporting summary. Multiple senators pressed for data to be added to the committee report, including counts of malpractice complaints filed with the Guam Board of Medical Examiners over the last three years and the outcomes of any of the roughly two dozen cases one attorney said his office handled.

Senator William Parkinson, who filed the current version of the bill, framed the measure as an effort to rebalance a process he said has repeatedly favored providers in oversight and discipline. "I will continue to fight for you until justice is had by our patients," Parkinson said, addressing witnesses directly. Other senators expressed condolences to families who had lost children and said they would review prior committee reports and past bill versions before the next public hearing.

Committee staff announced the session would recess and resume later in the day for additional testimony. No formal vote or committee action on the bill was recorded during the portion of the hearing in the transcript.

Background and process details discussed at the hearing included a 45-day notice requirement to providers, a 20-day response period for defendants, and a provision that parties may still agree to arbitration by mutual consent. Witnesses and senators also discussed Guam's short statute of limitations for malpractice claims (noted by one senator as one year in comparison to longer limits in most other U.S. jurisdictions) and the difficulty of finding attorneys willing to take malpractice cases on the island.

Senators and witnesses repeatedly asked the Guam Board of Medical Examiners and the insurance commissioner for clearer reporting about which providers hold malpractice insurance and for statistics on complaints and sanctions; hearing participants said that information was not provided at the session and should be added to the committee record.

The committee recessed to reconvene later the same day to hear additional testimony and invited witnesses to submit written testimony to the committee clerk.