Jon L. Christensen: “this week the Senate will take up their malpractice bill. This is a critical issue for physicians; and it should provide…”

“this week the Senate will take up their malpractice bill. This is a critical issue for physicians; and it should provide real relief, not just be a political tool. Like the one the House passed, all the Republican bill in the other body would do is cap the punitive and noneconomic damages and limit attorneys' fees. While some level of caps may need to be a part of effective legislation, this measure is just an attack on lawyers who they see as supporters of Democrats. The cap is not fully researched and is likely to hurt poorer and younger patients. Caps alone do not lower malpractice premiums as shown in a recent study of seven States that passed cap legislation where premiums continue to rise. The American people are tired of political responses to important issues. The better Democrat approach is comprehensive, would bring insurance companies under the antitrust laws, and possibly cap premiums while a task force studies the best way to move ahead. Republicans would apply a simple political Band-Aid to this major wound from which the medical community is hemorrhaging and in the process free insurance and managed care companies from any accountability for decisions they make on our care by including them in a cap that is meaningless with their huge profits. That is the whole purpose of the bill, protecting corporate friends. It is not good medicine. This Congress should spit it out.”