Another Voice for Medical Liability Reform
October 27, 2009
Columnist Charles Krauthammer makes the case for making medical liability reform a key component of our health care overhaul in an interview published in Der Spiegel. In addition to being a Pulitzer Prize winner, Krauthammer is also an M.D., Harvard Medical School, class of 1975. Money graph:
SPIEGEL: How could Obama still win Republican support for healthcare reform?
Krauthammer: He should finally realize that we need to reform our insane malpractice system. The US is spending between $60 and $200 billion a year on protection against lawsuits. I used to be a doctor, I know how much is wasted on defensive medicine. Everybody I practiced with spends hours and enormous amounts of money on wasted tests, diagnostic and procedures — all to avoid lawsuits. The Democrats will not touch it. When Howard Dean was asked why, he said honestly and explicitly that Democrats don’t want to antagonize the trial lawyers who donate huge amounts of money to the Democrats.