Malpractice causing crisis, not lawsuits
Thursday May 15, 2003

To the Editor:

Since Sen. Bill Frist asked to be addressed as "doctor" rather than as "senator," it should come as no surprise to anyone to hear him singing the medical profession's anthem when addressing the issue of malpractice tort reform.

It is instructive to listen to lyrics of this anthem sung by other tort reform proponents.

A Massachusetts doctor held a sign that stated: "If your doctor is not there, will your lawyer deliver your baby?" That might not be a bad idea since between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die in hospitals each year as a result of medical mistakes.

Incredibly, a South Carolina doctor said in reference to a victim who lost both breasts after being misdiagnosed with breast cancer: "She'll have breast reconstruction better than she had before. It won't be National Geographic, hanging to her knees. It'll be nice, firm breasts." That statement is unforgivably insensitive.

Even the president has weighed in for tort reform. He said, "No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit"; a comment that does the non-sequitur proud.

Malpractice lawsuits are not the cause of the medical crisis. Malpractice is. Patients would be better served if Dr. Frist, other members of the medical profession, and the president addressed the root of this crisis.

Proponents of tort reform would do that if they would listen to the dirge sung by malpractice victims rather than to the anthem of medical professionals who have a vested interest in the bottom line.

Jane Marshall
Clarksville, TN