Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the opponents of this medical malpractice amendment have wildly attacked it. But, this amendment is very reasonable and moderate reform. In fact, if you compare it to some of the proposals from last year's health care debate, you will see many familiar provisions. For example, the original Clinton Health Security Act contained a cap on attorney contingent fees, collateral source reform, periodic payment of damages, and mandatory alternative dispute resolution. The medical malpractice provisions reported from the Finance Committee contained joint and several liability reform, a cap on noneconomic damages, and mandatory alternative dispute resolution with modified loser-pays for those who go onto court and do not improve upon the ADR decision. By omitting the cap on pain and suffering, this amendment does not go as far as the Finance Committee's proposals which were reported out of the committee, on a bipartisan basis. During last year's health care debate, some argued for the Canadian single-payer system. Canada's single-payer system also includes some very strict rules on malpractice cases.”