Page 6 - Malpractice Suits News Today

Government is getting too involved in this. you want the government to go in here. how would they mandate this cost control? >> this is a very important question. it all comes down to what would people be asked to buy into? accountable. they have projected costs will increase by 6.2%. if we could take that down even a percentage point, you could say very significantly. >> government-imposed cap on costs to hospitals? >> no. heres what we would do. basically start tracking end pend tours, look at...

Hey, jim. >> hello, shep. well president obama agrees with those who say a lot can be saved in health care by reforming the laws governing malpractice suits so doctors wont order unnecessary tests. he is only proposing giving the states $25 million for grants and demonstration projects, not actually reforms. and the democrat think tank found that some states have already tried such reforms and that expanding them nationally would reap massive savings. >> we found that roughly between 92 and $207...

Care reform, question now though is, will it succeed? suzanne malveaux is live at the white house. what can we expect to hear from the president as he unveils this latest proposal? >> reporter: kiran, thats a good question about whether or not hes going to succeed. aides are saying this is his final act. showing he is open to some republican ideas and at the same time push along the people in his own party on the fence about this. one of things he did yesterday, send a letter to the leadership o...

White house correspondent, suzanne malveaux, is back with us, with a preview. suzanne, what do we expect to hear from the president next hour? >> reporter: well, tony, aides say that this is his final act essentially that hes going to be putting this forward. this is something that hes calling for bipartisanship. hes trying to show that hes open to some republican ideas that came out of the bipartisan health care summit at the white house last thursday. some of those things that hes going to be ...

And its basically nothing. they want to go back to the starting line but then they want to carry us backwards. you know me, chris. i used to be a moderate democrat during the clinton years. i am no longer moderate with these guys. they have radicalized, because their whole approach is survival of the fittest. if you cant afford health care, tough. suffer. but better that you suffer than what we tax the investment profits of wealthy people in this country. they had nothing to offer. no exchanges,...

American health care system and american technology is really terrific but no system is free of mistakes. we need to have able to have a system that deals with the issue of adverse medical outcomes, whether theyre due to negligence or not due to negligence. the figures you mentioned in terms of the cost of defensive medicine are very significant and our polls show that more than 65% of our doctors indicate that theyve changed their practice because of concerns about fear of litigation and they d...

What about the notion lawyers are benefiting financially from malpractice suits? doctors like ob-gyns are retiring early because they cant afford the liability insurance and causing stories like the one i told you. >> the truth is taking away the rights of patients who are injured through no fault of their own will do absolutely nothing to reduce the cost of health care, to provide insurance to the uninsured or in order to improve the quality of health care. 98,000 patients are killed every year...

They do practice defensive medicine. >> i have a feeler mr. tarricone is not going to agree with all of this. to be fair, president obama before today talked about the idea of setting up panels to create for safety standards. what about the notion lawyers are benefiting financially from malpractice suits? doctors like ob-gyns are retiring early because they cant afford the liability insurance and causing stories like the one i told you. >> the truth is taking away the rights of patients who are ...

To face. >> thats certainly an argument the defense can make and its plausible. in all cases where doctors dont act properly you dont see criminal charges. you see malpractice suits, disciplinary actions by medical boards. all these things are possible as well. i think the defense would argue if it werent high-profile they wouldnt waste their time on it. >> thanks for coming in. good to see you. >> thanks for inviting me. >> a judge in north carolina found andrew young, former aide to john edwar...

Than 120,000 vets waited far too long for doctors so see them. in addition, the feds have paid out $845 million to settle v.a. malpractice suits. senator coburn of oklahoma, a physician himself has identified $25 billion wasted by the v.a. despite that $100 million given to v.a. ad in bonus money in 2010 alone. a shocking abuse of taxpayer money. and while all that was happening, president obama did nothing, absolutely nothing add that the border, iraq, putin, the irs and you have an administrat...