Isn't this special

Getting tort reform is important to any effort to 'fix' health care. For those of you that went to public school, tort reform means changing the rules regarding lawsuits that people bring against doctors and hospitals for supposed mistakes that they made.

I offer this video to fuel our discussion> Howard Dean's comments start at about 1:44 in. And, shockingly, I think we actually are hearing the truth from old 'primal scream' Howard!



People are fully entitled to recover all economic damage caused by a mistake. In some circumstances, they are allowed triple the economic damage - this is as it should be. If you are crippled due to malpractice, you should be entitled to lost wages, medical costs, costs for your care, etc.

What is damaging our system though, are PUNITIVE damages. These are meant to 'punish' the doctor or hospital. First of all, it is the insurance company that pays, not the doctor - so no punishment is really bestowed.

The reason these are so damaging is because of the arrangement that the ambulance chasing lawyers have. The lawyers usually get 30%+ of the damage settlement! It has created an industry where none should exist. John Edwards, for Senator, Presidential candidate, and male-slut, made over $200 million dollars this way.

Now, why do I have a problem with his having made this money - being the good conservative that I am? Simple - it was the shady WAY he made it. He sued doctors for 'mistakes' they made delivering babies. Edwards claimed these 'mistakes' led to cerebral palsy. Research has shown these were bogus claims -- the birthing process did NOT cause the cerebral palsy. But, Edwards convinced a bunch of jurors to make someone 'pay'.

Now, the cost of these lawsuits is a factor in our health care costs. But, the real damage is the indirect costs that they impose. In the 1960's, 4% of American births were by C-Section. In 2007, that number was 31%!! Nearly 1 in 3 American births are done surgically! Are you kidding me? This is a 'natural' process that woman have been doing for 1000's of years. Now, of course, we haven't had multi-multi-million dollar damage settlements for 1000's of years.

Result? Doctors do a C-section as a 'defensive' measure. A huge majority of those births, given the chance, would have concluded successfully. In the 5% of cases that need it - do the surgery. But my goodness, do you see the costs associated with 'defensive' medicine?

Lawsuits cost, directly, about 1-2% of our health care dollar. Defensive medicine adds anywhere between 8-13%. And 30-50% of lawsuit profits go directly to lawyers.

Which leads us to WHY there is no tort reform in the bill. In the video, Howard Dean (a doctor himself) admits the reason: the Dems are in bed with the trial lawyers. The lawyers are the 2nd biggest source of campaign money to the Dems - and they want to protect their right to bring these lawsuits. Hence, they are pressuring the Dems to avoid tort reform.

Dean says the did not want to 'take on' the lawyers! He talks about 'making enemies'. Well, the Dems sure as hell did not hesitate to 'take on' us average Americans. They have called us un-american, evil mongers, fascists, nazis, violent mobs, tea-baggers, and astro-turf. That sounds just like 'enemy' talk to me. How dare those bastards to bow to the lawyers and then spit on US!!!

Apparently, we don't donate enough money - so we are not 'protection'. Sounds almost like the organized crime version of 'protection' to me. It is the politicians that you and I need 'protection' FROM.