Henry Waxman: “I want to say this, that this bill is a flawed approach. It has a one-size-fits-all approach to every State, and it…”

“I want to say this, that this bill is a flawed approach. It has a one-size-fits-all approach to every State, and it ought to be up to the States to decide how to deal with these issues. California has a law that California's legislature adopted. But California and other States have jurisdiction over liability laws and licensure of medical professionals and disciplining those who are conducting malpractice. We ought not to take this whole thing over here in Washington. States ought to be able to adopt their own laws. Secondly, the tort laws are to serve two purposes. First, to make people whole who are injured. By putting a cap on damages, it denies individuals the ability to be made whole through the court system. Secondly, the idea of the tort law is to deter future malpractice, and I am afraid we are not going to deter future malpractice by this legislation. I want to lastly point out, this bill goes beyond California law. It gives special treatment to HMOs, to pharmaceutical manufacturers and medical device manufacturers in a way that is completely inappropriate through an FDA approval process that then insulates them from liability for punitive damages, which I think is way out of line and wrong. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill because it is fundamentally flawed and will do far more harm than good.”