For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 13, 2003
Statement by the President
America's medical liability system is badly broken. Frivolous and
abusive lawsuits are driving up costs for patients, threatening access
to quality health care, and forcing good doctors to shut down clinics
in communities across the nation.
We need a medical liability system that provides compensation for
patients, not windfalls for trial lawyers. The direct and indirect
costs of the liability crisis to the Federal government is more than
$28 billion a year, adding to the costs of Medicare and Medicaid and
hurting our efforts to help people get access to the medical care they
need.
Today's House vote is an important step toward creating a liability
system that fairly compensates those who are truly harmed, punishes
egregious misconduct without driving good doctors out of medicine, and
improves access to quality, affordable health care by reducing health
care costs.
I also commend the House for passing legislation that improves
patient safety by providing for better sharing of valuable medical
expertise between health care professionals. Together, these two
pieces of legislation will make the system work for patients.
I urge the Senate to move quickly on legislation that will reform
our medical liability system and reduce medical errors so that I can
sign these important measures into law this year.
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