[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 93 (Friday, June 27, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S6785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO JAMES S. TODD, M.D.

 Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, today, I rise to pay tribute to Dr. 
James S. Todd, executive vice president and chief executive officer of 
the American Medical Association from 1990 until 1996.
  Dr. Todd was a dynamic leader and advocate for physicians and 
patients throughout the country. His advice and example were invaluable 
to lawmakers in Washington and to his peers throughout the Nation.
  He steered the AMA through a time of stress and change in American 
medicine, and made great strides in preparing the AMA to lead the 
medical profession into the next century. But, more than anything, Dr. 
Todd loved his profession. He called medicine ``the most demanding, 
regarding, and enjoyable profession there could possibly be.''
  One of Dr. Todd's many accomplishments included guiding the American 
Medical Association through the implementation of a dramatic revision 
in the Medicare payment system. His efforts changed the old 
``reasonable and customary fee'' basis to a system that takes into 
account the resources that doctors bring to their profession, including 
education, and training.
  Dr. Todd worked aggressively with a coalition of companies providing 
professional liability insurance for physicians, on ways to curb the 
escalating cost of malpractice insurance. He was deeply involved in 
drafting the guidelines for the practice of various medical specialties 
to reduce the number of errors committed by doctors.
  As executive vice president, Dr. Todd also oversaw preparations for 
the establishment of the National Patient Safety Foundation. Its chief 
mission is to protect patients by identifying and correcting errors in 
medical systems, notably in the hospital system.
  The physicians and patients of America alike have lost a friend and 
champion. We will miss Dr. Todd's spirit, integrity, and love for 
medicine.
  Born in 1931, Dr. Todd graduated cum laude from Harvard College and 
Harvard Medical School. He interned and served his residency in surgery 
at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, becoming 
chief resident in 1963. He was a Diplomate of the American Board of 
Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He was in 
private practice many years in New Jersey.
  Dr. Todd, who retired in 1996 after 6 yeas as executive vice-
president, was first elected a member of the board of trustees in 1980. 
He became senior deputy executive vice president in 1985, and was named 
executive vice president in 1990.
  Dr. Todd is survived by his wife, Marjorie Patricia Thorn Todd, and 
his son, Kendall Scott Todd.

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