Henry Waxman: “the Republicans seem to think that Washington has all the answers right here, and we ought to take it away from the…”

“the Republicans seem to think that Washington has all the answers right here, and we ought to take it away from the States to make their own decisions, and I think that is a wrong approach. They would impose a bill to be in place for all of this country when there are a lot of differences and a lot of different approaches to issues like tort liabilities, licensures of professionals and how to handle those matters. But supporters of this bill claim it is modeled after the California Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, but the liability limits in this bill go far beyond medical malpractice. They extend to any lawsuits relating to any health care or medical product including the manufacturers and distributors of drugs and medical devices. This is far beyond the liability limits adopted in California or, as far as I am aware, any other State. So I oppose this bill. I know that they are trying to do something about the medical malpractice problem, but I do not think it answers the problem; and I think it makes it one-size-fits-all, and it is not the best approach.”