<p>I know Bush was calling for something along the lines of a cap (one of the few things that he and I agree on), but that was around the time of the 2004 elections and he probably doesn’t care now that the democrats lost. </p>
<p>(John Edwards, the democratic VP candidate, was a malpractice lawyer for a long time before he got a congressional seat)</p>
<p>Hopefully places that have high medical malpractice costs will get their act together and realize that the lawsuits are only serving to hurt their communities. Studies have shown that lawsuits against doctors and medical groups have no effect on patient outcome in the future, for better or for worse. </p>
<p>On the other hand, how can you blame families for suing if something is wrong? Sure, the lawsuits in which something goes wrong for the patient that isn’t the fault of the doctor (ie, infant born w/ a disease) are frivolous. America–and especially American juries-- are not willing to accept bad outcomes, whether or not anything could have been done about them.</p>
<p>However, when a hospital accidentally shuts off the oxygen to an infant’s oxygen mask for 4 minutes, leaving him mentally ■■■■■■■■, rarely do you see hospitals step forward and say “we will give your infant free healthcare and round-the-clock nursing for life…we’re sorry.” Instead they seem to say “If you have a problem, you’ll have to sue us.” And then the family has no choice–it WILL cost them thousands if not millions to get extra care for their child.</p>
<p>To summarize: the whole system is whack.</p>