April 8, 2004
60-40 FILES:
Malpractice Legislation Remains Stuck in the Senate: Senate Republicans failed on Wednesday in a third effort to curb medical malpractice lawsuits but said they would continue to force votes on the issue. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 4/08/04)
On a 49-to-48 vote, Republican leaders fell 11 votes short of the 60 needed to overcome the threat of a filibuster by Democrats and force the Senate to consider their bill to limit pain-and-suffering damages that juries can award in malpractice suits against obstetricians and emergency room doctors.Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, said his party would not give up on getting malpractice legislation sought by doctors and insurance companies through the Senate this year.
"We are going to keep bringing this issue back," Dr. Frist said, "because the crisis is getting worse."
Republicans say their measure could help reduce unnecessary lawsuits and higher malpractice premiums that make it harder for doctors to practice. They tried last year and again earlier this year to force votes on similar measures.
"The crisis faced by obstetricians, gynecologists and emergency and trauma care professionals illustrates the urgent need for national medical liability reforms," the White House said in a statement.
Like Social Security privatization, this is a vitally important reform that awaits a Republican Senate with a big enough margin to break filibusters or perhaps a sufficient landslide this November to embolden the majority in the Senate to rewrite its rules. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 8, 2004 9:15 AM
Legislation I wouldn't mind seeing passed. We once had Obstetricians and Gynecologists operating in this area, now the nearest OBGYN is a two hour drive away in a larger city.
Posted by: Jason Johnson at April 8, 2004 10:57 AMThis is long overdue. But can't the states do something? NJ is a mess. You can't get out of a doctor's office less than two hours past your original appointment time. My husband once had to sit on the floor in a waiting room it was so crowded.
The case needs to be made loud and clear that lawsuit abuse hurts all of us.
Posted by: NKR at April 8, 2004 11:45 AMNKR:
As with all such issues the states are well out in front of the Feds on reform. The problem though is that legislators are overwhelmingly lawyers.
Posted by: oj at April 8, 2004 12:36 PMThis is one of the issues that can help Republicans win in liberal states like Washington--liberal states tend to be the most in need of this sort of fix, and to have the Senators most resistent to it.
Doctors in Washington have been blanketing airwaves with half-hour commercials about how bad the situation there is, and setting up Patty Murray as the villain. It's set the stage well for Nethercutt, but we'll see if he plays it as wisely as he needs to.
Posted by: Timothy at April 8, 2004 4:02 PMHow is this really a politically winnable issue? Remember the woman a year or so ago whose doctors removed the wrong breast, so she had to have both removed due to their incompetence? I am hugely sympathetic to the case that malpractice suits are out of control, but how can anyone argue that such patients can possibly be compensated (let alone overcompensated) for their pain and suffering?
Posted by: brian at April 8, 2004 6:06 PMWhen people start dying because doctors start leaving because they can't afford the insurance.
Posted by: Timothy at April 8, 2004 7:53 PM