Chicago injury lawyer, Tim Cavanagh, founding partner of Cavanagh Law Group applauds Senator Richard Durbin on his stand against the discrimination of victims of medical malpractice. On February 25, 2010, Senator Durbin made the following statement during President Obama's Health Care Summit:
Mr. President, I've been biding my time throughout this
entire meeting. I thank you for inviting us on the issue of medical
malpractice. Before I was elected to Congress, I worked in a
courtroom. For years, I defended doctors and hospitals, and for years
I sued them on behalf of people who were victims of medical
malpractice. So I've sat at both tables in a courtroom. At least
many years ago, I think I kind of understood this area of the law
better than some.
But I listen time and again as our friends on the other side when
they're asked what are the most important things you can do when it
comes to our health care system in America. The first thing they say
is medical malpractice. It's the first thing they say. Today, it was
the first thing that was said.
The point that's been made by the president is if we do believe
the Congressional Budget Office, when Orrin Hatch asked them how much
will we save if we implement the Republican plan on medical
malpractice from the House, they said $54 billion over 10 years; $5.4
billion a year is a lot of money, except in the context of the $2.5
trillion bill that we pay each year for health care. It represents
one-fifth of 1 percent of the amount of money we spend each year on
health care.
The Congressional Budget Office said something else. They said
and as you lose accountability for what the doctors and hospitals are
doing, more people will die -- 4,800 a year, according to the
Congressional Budget Office's reference to this study.
Now, the Institute of Medicine tells us 98,000 people a year die
in America because of medical malpractice. I think there are things
that we have put in this bill to change that. Most of you have heard
of this Dr. Gawande. We've read him. I've talked to him on the
phone. His "Checklist Manifesto" is a very basic approach to reducing
medical errors, which is what we should be focused on.
And I want to say, Mr. President, I think what you and the
secretary have done is the right thing -- incentivizing states to find
innovative ways to reduce medical errors and reduce those lawsuits
that should not be filed.
But let me tell you what, limiting the recovery for pain and
suffering for someone who is entitled -- entitled because they're
innocent victims -- to be paid isn't eliminating junk lawsuits. I
will tell you that as far as the president is concerned, in his
neighborhood there is a great hospital, which I will not name, and at
this hospital a woman went in for a simple removal of a mole from her
face. And under general anesthesia, the oxygen caught fire, burning
her face. She went through repeated surgeries, scars and deformity.
Her life will never be the same. And you are saying that this
innocent woman is only entitled to $250,000 in pain and suffering.
I don't think it's fair. Our jury system makes that decision,
and the states, 30 of them have made a decision on what to do. If you
were asked a basic question: Over the last 20 years, has the number
of paid malpractice claims in America doubled or been cut in half? If
you listen to most people here, you'd say it must have doubled. No.
According to the Kaiser Foundation, they've been cut in half.
Oh, but how much -- how about the money that's being paid for
these malpractice claims? Clearly, that's gone through the roof. No.
Between 2003 and 2008, the total amount paid for malpractice claims in
America was cut in half from $8 billion to $4 billion.
This is an important issue. I don't dispute it and I think we
have treated it as an important issue. But to make it the overriding
issue is to, I think, really trivialize some of the other things that
should be part of this conversation.
I've been asked to speak about deficit reduction. I will not,
other than to say one general thing. When I hear my friend John
Boehner say that we have the best health care in the world, I don't
dispute it for a moment. If I were sick, this is the country I want
to be in, with these doctors, these hospitals, and these medical
professionals.
Step back for a second and look at who we are in this room. As
was said many years ago, the law in its majestic equality forbids both
the wealthy and the poor from sleeping under bridges. When it comes
to the wealthy in health care per capita, we're the wealthiest people
in America. the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program administered
by the federal government, setting minimum standards for the health
insurance that we enjoy as individuals and want for our families, is
all we're asking for in this bill for families across America.
If you think it's a socialist plot and it's wrong, for goodness
sakes drop out of the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program. But
if you think it's good enough for your family, shouldn't our health
insurance be good enough for the rest of America? That's what it gets
down to. Why have this double standard?
Tom Harkin is right. Why do we continue to discriminate against
people when we know that each one of us is only one accident or one
diagnosis away from being one of those unfortunate few who can't
afford or can't find health insurance.
