Daschle: Tort Reform "On The Table"

By: Sean Alfano
Topics: Obama

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

As if taking his case to the most powerful physicians group in the United States to push his controversial health care proposals wasn't a big enough headline, a New York Times report says President Obama has been working behind the scenes to protect doctors from malpractice lawsuits.

"Tort reform is going to be on the table," Mr. Obama's initial nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle told The Early Show Monday.

Daschle, whose nomination was doomed over his failure to pay roughly $140,000 in taxes and interest, said reforming rules surrounding medical liability was an important issue to tackle.

The South Dakota Democrat said "there's a clear understanding" that health costs are out of control.

In the Times article, a Democrat close to the president said broaching the subject of malpractice reform was a "credibility builder" that could keep doctors and Republicans interested in reaching a comprehensive health care deal.

"He's touched on this issue at a number of meetings," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told the Times. Wyden, who supports liability reform, said Mr. Obama has "the common sense message that if doctors act in line with their own professional guidelines, that ought to create a certain presumption that they have acted reasonably."

President Obama will take his case for health care reform to the American Medical Association Monday afternoon.

Click here to read the entire New York Times article.

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by ahoffmanCJD June 16, 2009 9:46 AM EDT: Kudos to President Obama for taking on the monumental task of health care reform, but shame on him for attempting to use the rights of those injured through preventable medical errors as a political "bargaining chip." http://***********/l3l8n6 Compromising citizens' constitutional right to a jury trial will never make for a sound bargain.; Reply to this comment


by stn_sage June 15, 2009 7:18 PM EDT: The whole insurance industry is a huge SCAM!

They love to issue policies, collect the premiums, and RARELY pay out or in sufficient amount when they're supposed to!

I think malpractice insurance on doctors SHOULD be LOWERED and CAPPED!

Then, the pharmaceutical companies' prices need to
be LOWERED and CAPPED!

THEN, we LOOK at doctors' incomes---to see if any
adjustments are necessary!

THIS, is what it's going to take to correct a broken health
care system!; Reply to this comment


by debinok1 June 15, 2009 5:37 PM EDT: Workers Comp in "most" states put a $ value on injuries/body parts, even life. This would prevent multi-million $ lawsuits when someone is maimed or killed as a result of negligence. This type of tort reform would go a long way in reducing malpractice costs while still allowing people to be compensated for the failure of a Doctor. JMO.; Reply to this comment


by matoosaferre June 15, 2009 2:47 PM EDT: Pelosi, Reid and the Democratic Party have refused to institute TORT Reform over and over for decades. So the Republicans were correct all along.
Stupid-a*s democrats!; Reply to this comment


by hangelle June 15, 2009 2:19 PM EDT: "All anyone needs is just go to the Emergency Room of any Hospital and they have to give you medical care. "

The key word there, you idiot, is EMERGENCY. Anyone can get emergency care at an emergency room -- but guess who ends up paying for that, you idiot? You do! And what about follow up care? How does one get that with no insurance, exactly? And yes, people have died from lack of health care, you IDIOT. It happens every day all around you. The 50 year old heart attack victim who never had acess to cardiac care because he had no health insurance. The 40 year old breast cancer victim who died not even knowing what she had. The premature baby who had no prenatal care. What is wrong with you that you don't know this is going on everywhere in this country daily!; Reply to this comment


by chabuka-2009 June 15, 2009 1:36 PM EDT: Just another "gimme" to corporations...another sell-out ex Senator who got his wealth the old-fashioned way.."bribes" from corporate lobbyists to screw the consumer....the taxpayer...you under stand "arbitrary negotiations"? the "arbitrators" are not judges or even lawyers of Law..they would be "negotiators" for the corporations..hired by the corporations..who do you think those negotiators will find liable..? the consumer or the corporation that hired them..?(that is the "new law"the corporations are trying to push through Congress.....(looks like Daschle is "getting his" from the corporations, too); Reply to this comment


by mjvwsr June 15, 2009 12:41 PM EDT: funny...when bush talked about tort reform the libs screamed about him protecting the big insurance companys. shoes on the other foot and now it's a great idea; Reply to this comment


by apple2pie June 15, 2009 11:41 AM EDT: The ONLY way MDs are going to cut back on doing extra tests is if something goes wrong and the extra tests would have made the difference the MDs are not going to have their a*sses sued off. For example, the case for having $250,000.00 fopr pain and suffering, many cancer treatment patients have pain and suffering as part of their treatment. What should happen everyone should be given $250,000.00??? The systm needs to be overhauled along the lines of a WORKMAN's COMP SYSTEM as in New Zealand or Sweden..that's how they can afford universal overage. Lawyers get 50% of the "win" anyway... What injury did they suffer???; Reply to this comment


by drputt45 June 15, 2009 11:37 AM EDT: So a tax dodger tells us how to sovle the health costs. Maybe if we did not pay the doctors, like this crook did not pay taxes, big savings there.

Pay your taxes or go to jail. No free passes to the politicians.; Reply to this comment


by credibility2 June 15, 2009 11:28 AM EDT: Part of the abuse of the health care system, which is conveniently ignored, has to do with the glut of illegal aliens leaching from the system. Then there are those who haven't any insurance, aren't very bright, don't take care of themselves, and then clutter up the hospital emergency rooms for routine illnesses or sniffles. I'm against tort reform because it will open up the doors of more malfeasant doctors causing permanent or irreversible injuries or death to innocent patients. Malpractice insurance is as high as it is for doctors because their professional does nothing to pull licenses of repeat offenders of malpractice. And yes, insurance companies are also at fault, but so are those who abuse the health care system. And yes, there are some attorneys who represent individuals who in fact should get some compensation for careless doctors, but often end up milking the system and get millions for a proverbial ingrown toenail growing back. There's plenty of madness to be spread all around and anyone trying to simplify it by holding accountable one or two entities is living in a fantasy land. Widespread abuse across the board needs to be eliminated, not just from doctors and insurance companies, but also the abuses of individuals, especially the illegal aliens and their kids born here (automatic citizenship should be permanently repealed and made retroactive to at least fifteen years ago).; Reply to this comment