MALPRACTICE….Bob Herbert writes about the tort reform scam today:
What is needed is a nationwide crackdown on malpractice, not a campaign to roll back the rights of patients who are injured. This is another utterly typical example of the Bush administration going to bat for those who are economically and politically powerful against those who are economically and politically weak.
There are basically three things that can be done to reduce malpractice premiums:
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Reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits.
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Regulate insurance companies.
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Reduce the amount of malpractice.
President Bush talks about the first but does nothing real about it, and he doesn’t even bother talking about #2 and #3. This is all you really need to know to decide whether he’s serious about the problem or just blowing political smoke.
Bush and the Republican don’t really care about the roots of the malpractice problem, or even whether it’s really a problem at all. They just want to bash Democratic trial lawyers. But remember: they think that Republican corporate lawyers are just fine. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
