Recent News: Health Care
Graham, Chambliss Address Medical Malpractice with ‘Loser Pays’ Reform
WASHINGTON – United States Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) today introduced ‘Loser Pays’ legislation to decrease the number of frivolous lawsuits that increase the cost of medical care.
“Reform of medical malpractice is one of the key, missing ingredients from the health care reform proposals being debated in Congress,” said Senator Graham “A ‘Loser Pays’ system is one of the best devices available to prevent frivolous lawsuits from costing all of us. When both parties in a lawsuit are subject to financial penalty, people think longer and harder about bringing a questionable case forward. Most western nations already have a ‘Loser Pays’ rule, and it is time our own country adopts this concept.”
New Report Boosts Backers of Lawsuit Reform
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Limiting medical malpractice lawsuits could save the U.S. government $54 billion over a decade, congressional budget analysts said on Friday in a report that could boost a Republican push to include lawsuit reform in President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul.
Capping awards for non-economic and punitive damages along with other reforms would reduce doctors’ malpractice insurance premiums and defensive medicine practices for government health programs, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said in a letter to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch.
Dean says no tort reform because trial lawyers too intimidating
A moment of clarity from Howard Dean, courtesy of CNS News, who took this video at the town-hall forum of Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA). When an angry constituent wondered why a supposedly comprehensive “reform” of the health-care system doesn’t include tort reform to lower costs of malpractice insurance and reduce defensive medicine, Dean responds as “a doctor and a politician.” Apparently, neither has the courage to face the trial-lawyer lobby.
FFCJ Launches “Let’s Be Fair” Commentary Series
Let’s Be Fair is a weekly series of 60-second Commentaries featuring Bob Dorigo Jones, bestselling author and founder of the Wacky Warning Label Contest. Click here to see a current list of episodes!
In the spirit of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense wake-up call to our forefathers, FFCJ is producing 60-second weekly national radio commentaries called “Let’s Be Fair,” featuring Bob Dorigo Jones. Bob achieved national name recognition as the creator of the hugely popular Wacky Warning Label Contest.
Obstetrics Crisis Growing In Pa.
(The Bulletin) The obstetrics crisis in Pennsylvania is growing. Last month, the maternity units at Brandywine Hospital near Coatesville, Chestnut Hill Hospital in the affluent Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia and Central Montgomery Medical Center in Lansdale, all closed.
So far, 17 maternity wards have closed in Philadelphia since 1997. According to one source, the waiting period for gynecologic care for a new patient in the five-county Southeastern Pennsylvania area is six to nine months.
