Dean Admits Democrats Are Afraid Of The Trial Bar
August 26, 2009
In an extraordinary moment of candor, Howard Dean, former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and onetime Democratic candidate for president, admitted Democrat majorities in Congress left medical liability reform out of health care legislation out of fear of angering their powerful patrons among the trial bar. NAM’s Shopfloor blog has the audio, but here’s the money quote:
“The reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers … and that is the plain and simple truth.”
Tiger Joyce at Americans for Tort Reform had a piece in yesterday’s Investor’s Business Daily outlining the reasons why tort reform is essential to any real effort to curb health care costs. The experience in two states makes a compelling case.
- In Massachusetts, 83% of physicians polled by the Massachusetts Medical Society say that fear of being sued led them to practice defensive medicine. Doctors surveyed said about one out of every eight people hospitalized were there to avoid lawsuits and 18% to 28% of tests, procedures and referrals were ordered to keep the trial bar at bay. All of this adds an estimated $1.4 billion to annual medical costs.
- In Texas, which adopted medical liability reform several years ago, liability insurance for doctors has fallen by 27% and more than 14,000 doctors either started or resumed practicing medicine in the state.
So why are Democrats in Congress so afraid to take on the trial lawyers? The “plain and simple truth:” $$$. In the last election cycle, lawyers and law firms funneled nearly $127 million to congressional candidates - about 80% to Democrats. That was more than six times the amount contributed by the much-maligned pharmaceutical industry. (Thanks, as always, to opensecrets.org for compiling these figures)
In addition to being a politician, Howard Dean is also an M.D., so he’s intimately aware of the influence greedy trial lawyers can exert over apprehensive physicians. Dr. Dean deserves credit for speaking truth to power, but the real “plain and simple truth” was left unsaid: Health care reform without medical liability reform is doomed to failure.
Posted by Dan Pero in the categories: Tort Reform, Trial Lawyers
3 Responses to “Dean Admits Democrats Are Afraid Of The Trial Bar”
[...] Mark Tapscott/Examiner, Washington Times, Darrin McKinney/ATRA, Dan Pero linking Tiger Joyce/Investors Business Daily, Charles Krauthammer/FoxNews.com via Carter Wood/PoL [...]
[...] Actually, the proposition has already been adequately demonstrated in many states. Consider two: In Massachusetts, 83% of physicians polled by the Massachusetts Medical Society said they had practiced defensive medicine to avoid litigation. According to the survey, one out of every eight patients hospitalized and 18% to 28% of tests, procedures and referrals were ordered out of fear of being sued. The cost: $1.4 billion a year in Massachusetts alone. In Texas, which adopted medical liability reform, liability insurance premiums for doctors have fallen by 27%. See my earlier post. [...]
[...] Dean has admitted that medical liability reform has been kept out of health care reform out of fear of angering the [...]