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The American Association for Justice, a group representing trial lawyers, has released a series of web videos designed to make the argument that malpractice litigation is important because medial error is real and can be devastating.

The group, Ben Smith reports, is alarmed that tort reform, long a Republican priority, "may re-emerge as grounds for compromise in the health care negotiations."

The videos feature Americans discussing tragedies that have befallen them because of medical error. The one above tells the story of Blake Fought, a 19-year-old who asphyxiated and died because a nurse improperly removed an IV line.

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In his speech before Congress last week, President Obama attempted to win Republican support for his health care overhaul by agreeing to consider including medical malpractice reform in his plan. In an interview that aired on CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday the president shed some more light on what he meant -- and in which form he will not accept tort reform. (Read the transcript of the president's interview here.)

Mr. Obama on Sunday clarified that he is so far not willing to consider capping malpractice judgments, a reform proposal consistently put forward by Republicans.

"Many in this chamber -- particularly on the Republican side of the aisle -- have long insisted that reforming our medical malpractice laws can help bring down the cost of health care," the president said last Wednesday to a joint session of Congress. "Now, I don't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but I've talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs."

The president then announced that he was directing Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to move forward on an initiative considered under the Bush administration to evaluate different kinds of malpractice reform through state-based demonstration projects.

However, it is unclear at this point whether the demonstration projects will produce valuable results before a health care bill lands on the president's desk. The president has said he would like to finish health care reform this year, and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said Sunday that Congress will pass a bill by Christmas.

The HHS Department will be releasing details about the initiative within the next month, an HHS official told the Hotsheet, such as how much money will be authorized for the projects and the timeline for the initiative. States will be able to apply for grants for various projects.

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