the link to the "Pro Civil Justice Presidential Platform" is one that everyone should follow if they want to get an understanding of what is at stake in this election, especially those who want to preserve access to the civil justice system for people injured by the healthcare system. The media does not want to rid itself of the fantasy that there is some harm to the medical system when people seek to make the system account for its own mistakes. Until people begin to take note of the fact that insurance companies run the healthcare system, and they do not want what is best for the patients, we will not get the type of reforms that we need. Michael Townes Watson
www.StopMedicalError.com

To Kia Franklin,

Please answer this reality check, because I don't think you understand what it meams to be a doctor in this country. I respect the fact that we need to improve decreasing medical errors. We also need to decrease the amount of medical costs for taking care of drunk driving victims, domestic abuse, teenage car accidents, wasted water, etc., all are examples of human mistakes. How do you tell a doctor who wants to set up shop in your city that in order to take care of patients, you have to pay 130,000 dollars in cash or 12,000 dollars per month to self insure yourself. Lets just say you are that doctor, think about it, how would you pay for this? I hope you're not counting on seeing more patients to make up the costs because you'd have to see 60/day for 365 days just to pay the malpractice premium, no salary.

Dr. RC, you get right to the heart of the matter--why are doctors being overcharged for insurance? The answer will probably surprise you: hard working doctors have to shave down time with their patients, take pay cuts, and work longer hours just to pay insurance premiums because the insurance industry has free reign over price setting and puts profits over fairness to doctors and patients.

Because the industry is under-regulated it has been wildly successful at blaming price hikes on lawsuits, malpractice victims, and trial lawyers. Insurance companies are rarely ever challenged to open their books and show what's really causing the price increases, but limits on lawsuit awards have NO IMPACT on insurance rates. When pressed, insurance industry reps even admit this. This lie that is told to the public is just one facet of the pro-corporate bias infecting the way we think about social problems.

Progressives have to resist this divisive tactic (picture Claire and Cliff Huxtable bopping an insurance industry exec on the head in one of Cliff's wacky dreams and you'll get the point.)

Harvey Rosenfield did something about this in California and it was very successful in reducing costs and exposing the real cause of excessive insurance premiums: www.drummajorinstitute.org/transcripts/Transcript_Rosenfield_rev.pdf

Also, check out: Jay Angoff, “Falling Claims and Rising Premiums in the Medical Malpractice Insurance Industry,” (Center for Justice and Democracy 2005) and Mythbuster: “Caps” Do Not Cause Insurance Rates to Drop (Center for Justice and Democracy)

Hope this helps.

According to a recent Harvard Analysis (you can find the report on msnbc website) 40% of all malpractice lawsuits are totally groundless yet 15% of those are settled anyway. Let's see 7-10 years of training, average debt of $140,000 dollars out of school; average physician salary $146,000 -declining 7% over last 8 years with purposed medicare cuts to reduce physician fees another 20%; malpractice premiums average $55,000/year (much higher in some specialties-my O.B. literally can not afford to work part-time because then she couldn't pay her malpractice)increasing public hostility toward the profession; Pressures from HMO's, hospitals, and the government...................I think I'll recommend law school to my kids.

Kia, if you're going to crowd cyberspace with palaver, than at least lay off the Kool aid and be circumspect. Protection from tort challenge increases the cost of every service by 11%. Product liability costs inflate the cost of all medical materials by another 15%. Why? There are far too many attorneys, and when you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail! I have 18 years of education as an orthopaedic surgeon, and I am paid 31 cents on the dollar for expert and compassionate care. You expect to get treatment, but do you check to see if your doctor was paid? No. We are the only group of professionals that is expected to deliver a service with NO guarantee of payment. Do you do that? None of our brightest kids are going into medicine the way they used to, because a smart kid realizes that the odds are against him. I sincerely hope you have to wait in line hours for your next service, only to see an MD you can not understand and who has less traing than most American, noble physicians. You will get the kind of care that you deserve. Your physician and your priest may be the only friends you have, not your attorney.

By the way, Kia. You mention the 1.5 million medication errrors made annually. What % is this? You don't mention that. In 1,000,000,000,000 medication orders annually, 1.5 mil is the lowest errror rate in ANY industry, putting 6 sigma to shame. Put the Kool aid back in the refirerator!!!

DrTbone-Thank you for such kind, warm wishes during this holiday season. I am glad you, personal attacks and all, are not representative of your noble profession. I respect doctors, and for that reason think it's important to point out how they're being duped. For some factual data on lawsuits and healthcare costs visit tortdeform.com. Doctors, and much of the general public, are being lied to about why their premiums are so high. Increasing patient safety and securing mechanisms to protect those who've been harmed by medical malpractice would improve the situation. Capping damages does nothing but deny victims access to justice and enrich the insurance companies by keeping their role in rising malpractice premiums out of the debate.