Political Quotes

“This is particularly true, Mr. President, when we reflect on the fact that it is that special interest which is the greatest beneficiary of the present system as, of all of the money that goes into medical malpractice, only 40 percent gets to the victims and 60 percent goes to the transactions costs; that is to say, the attorneys, the expert witnesses, the insurance adjusters and the like who involve themselves in the question. The greatest amount of money by far goes not to victims but to transaction costs. In my view, that is the great scandal of the present system, whether we are dealing with medical malpractice or with product liability. The costs of the system outside of the compensation provided for any of the parties is so overwhelmingly on one side that I think it would be those who speak about victims and victims' rights who would be most in favor of a dramatic and drastic reform of the present system, most in favor of it, to create a system in which the transaction costs, the lawyer's fees were dramatically less, and a much greater percentage went to those who were victims.”