Thursday, August 08, 2002

President Bush made a stop in Mississippi the other day so he could rail against what he calls the "lawsuit industry."

Though it is outrageous for someone to sue the fast food industry because he ate 300 Big Macs a year and developed heart disease, the fast food case is news precisely because it is outrageous, not because it is representative of damage claims filed in U.S. courts. But the poor judgment of those bringing the case and the resulting media rush to talk about it have opened the door for anyone who wants to use the lawyer-as-scapegoat tactic to solve complex, multi-layered social problems.

The President's concern was that Americans could not get health care because the doctors were all being forced out of business by the lawyers. He failed to mention the thousands of Americans who cannot get health care because:
They do not have health insurance.
They do not have jobs.
They are poor and cannot find a competent doctor who will accept Medicaid.
Their insurance companies restrict their access to appropriate treatment.
They cannot find a doctor who will listen to them.
They cannot find a doctor who has the knowledge and skill to help them.

Every few months there is a new report about serious errors made in hospitals--errors that are the result of poor hospital management, deficient staffing, and lack of physician monitoring. This doesn't mean that every lawsuit filed against a doctor indicates that a doctor has made an error. But it does demonstrate that we need a serious overhaul of the health care delivery system.

This was the President's take on the problem: Americans can't get health care because the doctors are being driven out of business by the lawyers. Therefore, the "lawsuit industry" must become a federal policy issue. Suddenly, he is the health care president. Does this mean that our Veterans' Hospitals will once again be willing to promote their services? That insurance companies will stop telling patients they won't pay for the only medicine that can treat them? That people who go to public health hospitals can stop sitting as long as eight hours in the waiting room? Will there be a boost in AIDS education? Will patients be able to see specialists without waiting two weeks to see a primary care physician who makes the referral?

Those thousands of American men, women and children who cannot get adequate health care must be feeling really relieved about now.




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