Is Tort Reform the Panacea for the Health Care Bill or a Conservative Red Herring?
reports that one attendee questioned the senator about the presence of tort reform language in the final health care bill, but Mr. Cardin was unsure if such verbiage would make it into the bill. There were murmurs that the reason for such oversight could be found in the staggering number of lawyers turned politicians. Tort reform, in its simplest form, would be the incentive for physicians to do away with what the Washington Post refers to as defensive medical practices. Without tort reform, doctors are more likely to perform a host of unnecessary or duplicate tests, merely to protect themselves against potential litigants asserting malpractice. Claiming that the trial lawyers lobby is actively fighting tort reform, there is a call for expert health courts that would take trials away from sympathetic but medically unschooled juries. Tort Reform: Elephant in the Room or Misleading Concept? Assuming that it is true and doctors indeed practice defensive medicine — order or run more tests
