During the ObamaCare “Summit Meeting”, Senator Dick Durbin (IL), himself a former medical malpractice lawyer, gave a spirited rebuttal to folks arguing that any cost-cutting health reform must address junk lawsuits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKKPgVkfzw4&feature=youtube_gdata
Durbin’s argument revolved around 3 points:
1. Even without new laws capping damages, medical malpractice lawsuits are dropping off dramatically.
He cited a study by the non-profit Kaiser Foundation saying that the number of paid medical malpractice claims has declined by 50 percent over the last two decades.
And between 2003 and 2008, the total amount paid out for medical malpractice claims – across the entire United States – was cut in half, from $8 billion to $4 billion.
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2. The Journal of the American Medical Association says that 100,000 deaths are caused by medical malpractice annually.
Medical malpractice reform will make doctors feel a little bit more insulated from legal liability for their actions and, therefore, will make them a little bit more careless.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the extra careless by doctors will result in additional 4,800 medical malpractice deaths a year.
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3. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Republican plan for medical malpractice reform will save $5.4 billion dollars a year … which is inconsequential in the context of a health care budget that is $2.5 trillion.
http://www.bostonpersonalinjurylawyerblog.com/2010/02/sen-durbin-demolishes-republic.html
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What Durbin didn’t say …
A Massachusetts Medical Society study showed that “the plague of defensive medicine” leads to about 25 percent of doctor referrals, tests and procedures being done for no medical reason. [Ken’s calc: 25% times $2.5 trillion = $625 billion]
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/03/05/the_health_care_bill_is_a_failure.html
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A study published in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Law & Economics showed that a rise in the cost of medical liability insurance led to more reductions of hours of medical service supplied by older doctors than among younger doctors.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/03/06/alice_in_medical_care_part_iv_104664.html
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In other words, experienced doctors are leaving the profession, rather than putting up with the hassles and risks, and letting debt-burdened younger docs take over
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Ken’s Take: No health care reform can be taken seriously as a cost-cutting initiative unless junk lawsuits are controlled … probably by setting up medical tribunals that protect patient rights while adding sanity to the payouts.
The Homa Files 
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