[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 131 (Wednesday, September 16, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H9555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1015
                     LIABILITY REFORM IS NECESSARY

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Madam Speaker, as we debate health care reform, little 
attention has been paid to the impact that our Nation's broken medical 
liability system has on rising medical costs.
  There are 125,000 lawsuits against physicians at any given time; 75 
percent of the suits are closed without payment to the plaintiff, and 
in 83 percent of the cases going to trial, physicians are cleared. This 
means there is very little correlation between lawsuits and actual 
malpractice. More than that, the current system pushes doctors to 
overtest and overtreat to avoid being hauled into the courtroom, 
costing Americans billions of dollars in taxes and higher premiums. In 
a few cases in which there is a judgment, much of the money goes to pay 
lawyers, not the aggrieved patient.
  Furthermore, the current system is driving physicians out of needed 
specialties. Recent studies show that one in seven obstetricians no 
longer delivers babies, and 49 percent of American counties don't even 
have an OB, largely because of high malpractice costs.
  If the President and Democrats are serious about controlling high 
health care costs, they must call on trial lawyers to share in the 
sacrifice and to reform the medical liability system.

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