[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 118 (Friday, July 31, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM

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                           HON. SCOTT GARRETT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 31, 2009

  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss one 
aspect of health care reform that, unfortunately, has not received a 
lot of attention by the Democrat majority. That is the issue of medical 
liability reform.
  Recently, I spent a couple of days in my district in New Jersey 
touring hospitals, physician group practices, and long-term care 
facilities. When talking to the physicians at these facilities, I asked 
them, ``What issue would you most like to see addressed in health care 
reform legislation?'' In every single facility I visited, medical 
liability reform was either at or near the top of the list.
  We know that the surge in malpractice lawsuits over the past 30 years 
has had a profoundly negative impact on the practice of medicine. And 
while, obviously, I feel that patients should be compensated for gross 
negligence by physicians, there is little doubt that our current tort 
system is broken. More than 60 percent of liability claims against 
physicians are dropped, withdrawn, or dismissed without payment. In 
2007, the average cost of defending these claims was $18,000 per case.
  This has pushed the cost of liability insurance through the roof. The 
American Medical Association (AMA) has listed my home state of New 
Jersey as a ``crisis state'' for medical liability. Doctors face 
liability insurance premium increases that far outpace the already high 
rate of medical inflation. Some high-risk specialties, such as 
obstetrics or emergency, face annual premiums of over $100,000 per 
year. According to a survey conducted by the American College of 
Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the lack of affordable 
liability insurance forced 70 percent of OB/GYNs to make changes to 
their practice. Liability concerns also forced between seven to eight 
percent of OB/GYNs to stop practicing obstetrics.
  But more important than the direct costs of our tort system are the 
indirect costs. One pediatrician I spoke to said that he would ``just 
like to practice medicine without feeling like a lawyer was looking 
over my shoulder all the time.'' The anxiety that our physicians face 
from confronting potential lawsuits seriously affects the doctor-
patient relationship. Additionally, it drives up the cost of health 
care by encouraging the practice of ``defensive medicine.'' The AMA 
estimates that defensive medicine adds somewhere between $84--$151 
Billion per year in health care costs to our system. As another doctor 
I met with said, ``I can waste money like you've never seen. When 
someone comes into my hospital and needs treatment, I can order every 
test, every procedure known to man, simply to protect myself from a 
lawsuit.''
  Even President Obama, in his recent address to the AMA has admitted 
that medical liability is a serious issue. But despite the support of 
the President, the medical establishment, and the overwhelming majority 
of Americans, of the 1,018 pages of H.R. 3200, the America's Affordable 
Health Choices Act, there is not a single page on medical liability 
reform.
  Madam Speaker, this issue is simply too important for us not to 
address. Any serious attempt to reform our health care system must 
reform medical liability.

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