White House Seeks Malpractice Law Reform

(AP)  The Obama administration on Thursday announced $25 million in grants to states and health care systems to launch a national experiment on alternatives to costly medical malpractice lawsuits, wading into a political issue that has long divided Washington.

The White House said the grants will be up to $3 million each for three years. They can be used to examine a broad range of ideas, including programs in which doctors and hospitals quickly acknowledge a mistake, offer an apology and restitution, and pledge to take corrective action to avoid harming future patients.

The Health and Human Services Department will conduct a review of existing programs to determine what works and which ones deserve grant money.

The issue of how to rein in the costs associated with medical malpractice, from expensive lawsuits to sky high premiums paid by doctors, has pitted lawmakers and interest groups against each other for years.

Doctors groups, with the support of conservatives, have pushed for national limits on jury awards for pain and suffering. Trial lawyers, with the backing of Democrats, argue that such action would harm aggrieved patients and their families seeking restitution.

Preventable medical errors are estimated to cause 44,000 to 98,000 deaths a year.

The announcement Thursday follows President Barack Obama's pledge in his speech last week to take on the issue. The president said that while he doesn't see malpractice changes as a "silver bullet," he's talked to enough doctors to suspect that fear of litigation contributes to unnecessary costs.

At the White House, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Washington should learn from what states are doing on this subject.

"States are the laboratories of innovation," said Sebelius, a former governor of Kansas.

[jtdev1]

I think that when they allow a doctor's record to be viewed publicly so a patient can make an informed decision on weither to go to this doctor or not,then they should change the malpractice system.

Until then, Sue them all....


Doctors never ever get in trouble. No one ever sees their record. and to me that is wrong.

[hockeymom441]

you don't know what you're talking about!

Doctor's records are scrutinized intensely by the institutions which employ them. Trust me, if someone is screwing up, they lose they job. No hospital was an idiot on their staff.

All of this review may not be in the public domain... but no offense, not sure the average jtdev1 would really be able to decipher and critically review a doctor's record. Probably better to let medical folks handle it.

[stuart-johns]

I don't care. I support malpractice reform. I agree with endurorob_4. The thing to remember is that this reform would'nt generate much savings at all. In fact it's about 2% of the healthcare budget. But it's part of the overall moral element to this reform package.

[mjvwsr]

this isn't going to make the trial lawyers happy. big nobama supporters.

[sjc_1]

Caps do not work and deny justice to those harmed. Malpractice premiums are less than 1% of health care costs and court awards are 1/5%. Defensive medicine claims are just an excuse to pad the bill. If you capped all awards you would be denying people their right for justice in the courts and excessive expensive tests would still continue by the millions. They do the tests for revenue and that will not change.

[sjc_1]

It makes more sense to improve health care and reduce the mistakes than it does to cap awards for those that were harmed. Get rid of bad doctors and help hospitals reduce errors and you will reduce harm and the justice that is sought. Get at the root cause and quit trying to put a band aid on it.