When Profits Trump Pain: The Real Cost of Hochul’s Veto of the Grieving Families Act

~  Jose Peo is co-host of the Politically Correcting podcast

I was approached last night by a gentleman I did not know, but had heard about my Politically Correcting radio show and felt he could air out his grievance to me (I get that alot). His name is William Rothrock and he works in medical malpractice cases involving birth injuries. His emotional response to the Grieving Families Act and how it will impact those he serves, pushed me to write this article. I’m not the emotional type but I do have a socially Liberal side that tends to come out when it needs to speak up for those who feel they don’t have a voice. Since I have a loud one, I thought it was only right I help Mr. Rothrock push this information out so others may be more informed.

Governor Kathy Hochul has vetoed the Grieving Families Act for the third year in a row, seems to have left many New Yorkers frustrated and disappointed. This proposed law was meant to update New York’s wrongful death laws, which haven’t changed since 1847—over 175 years ago! Right now, if someone dies because of another person’s mistake or wrongdoing, their family can only sue for financial damages, like lost income, but this law would have allowed families to seek compensation for emotional pain and suffering too.

Here’s the problem: New York is one of just two states in the entire country that doesn’t let families claim emotional damages when they lose a loved one unfairly. Almost every other state already allow this! The Grieving Families Act was designed to fix that, bringing New York in line with the rest of the nation.

Governor Hochul said she vetoed the bill because she’s worried it could raise insurance costs and hurt hospitals and small businesses, but the bill’s creators had already made changes to address these concerns, limiting who could sue and what kinds of damages they could ask for.

Many (like myself) feel the governor is putting money and business interests ahead of families’ pain and justice. This decision also highlights a bigger issue: it feels like big companies and industries—like insurance and pharmaceuticals—get special treatment, especially from those they donate to.

Governor Kathy Hochul’s veto of the Grieving Families Act raises serious questions about where her priorities truly lie. While she claims to be protecting New Yorkers from higher insurance costs, she seems more interested in shielding powerful industries—like Big Pharma—from accountability, and it’s not just her. Rep. Joe Morelle claims to fight against high insurance costs every 2 years during his re-election campaigns, yet his biggest donor class is the Insurance industry, while our insurance prices have gone up 30+%. Somehow these people are fighting for us, yet taking in dollars from the same industries they claim to be fighting against?

Governor Hochul’s decision to veto a bill that would allow families to seek compensation for emotional damages after losing a loved one, feels particularly hypocritical in this context. How can she justify denying justice to grieving families while defending a system that grants Big Pharma immunity? If the governor truly cared about protecting New Yorkers, she would stand up to corporate giants and fight for those who have been harmed, whether by medical malpractice or vaccine injuries, regardless of who donates to her campaign.

New Yorkers deserve leaders who prioritize their well-being over the profits of powerful industries. The Grieving Families Act would have been a step in the right direction—giving families a chance to hold those responsible accountable. Instead, Governor Hochul has shown that her loyalty lies with the interests of Big Pharma and insurance companies, not with the people she was elected to serve. Let me spell it out even further: politicians propping up Big Pharma with their support is how we get radicalized patients like Luigi Mangione (allegedly).

Families who lose loved ones because of negligence or wrongdoing deserve more. They want laws that recognize their emotional suffering and give them a way to hold those responsible accountable. New York needs to change its outdated laws to show that people’s lives matter as much as money and business interests, and (just for good measure) our country deserves Universal Healthcare.

~  Jose Peo is co-host of the Politically Correcting podcast, a program he started in 2021 that aims to bring reasoned dialogue to the tumultuous political landscape and empower listeners to speak honestly. Peo is a veteran who swiftly rose to E-5 sergeant, served as an intelligence analyst in Korea, along the southern U.S. border and in South America. Combining that with his entrepreneurial spirit, he won his first foray into politics by being elected to the City Council in Rochester, N.Y. in 2019. Peo’s journey from Army sergeant to entrepreneur and community leader reflects a commitment to unity and shared values.