August 17, 2004

Doctors Wary of Edwards

One of President Bush's biggest applause lines last Friday was, "You cannot be pro-doctor and pro-patient and pro-trial lawyer at the same time. You have to choose. My opponent made his choice, and he put him on the ticket." A blistering article in "The Washington Times" backs this up. It quotes: "The John Edwards we know crushed [obstetrics, gynecology] and neurosurgery in North Carolina," said Dr. Craig VanDerVeer, a Charlotte neurosurgeon. "As a result, thousands of patients lost their health care."

The Kerry-Edwards Plan for Rural and Small Town Economies says they will help keep doctors in small communities by reforming the insurance industry and punishing those lawyers who bring 3 or more frivolous lawsuits. The problem is, Edwards was highly successful in winning medical malpractice lawsuits with what many say was junk science, therefore they were not frivolous. I've seen the stories for years - ob/gyn doctors are either leaving the specialty or being forced to practice with HMOs because only an HMO can afford the malpractice insurance. In addition, many doctors have gone to "the defensive practice of medicine," ordering excessive numbers of tests and imaging procedures and making the number of c-section deliveries skyrocket. All of this has contributed to the enormous increase in health care costs that Kerry-Edwards now lament. John Kerry has likewise been a consistent opponent of medical liability reform.

The line is clearly drawn, for the first time ever the Pennsylvania Medical Society PAC has endorsed a presidential candidate, George Bush. They cite a loss of 2400 health care jobs in Pennsylvania, and forcing 1700 Pennsylvania physicians to relocate, retire early, close or curtail their practices.

At age 14 my leg was partially paralyzed in a complication following knee surgery - swelling against the hard cast cut the nerve to my lower leg. My family was poor, we desperately needed the money, and we could have sued for malpractice. We could have won the "medical lottery." We chose not to. All of my medical costs were covered by dad's union medical insurance. We just didn't think it was right to take more.

Undecided Voter Rating
Medical Liability Reform
Edwards: Strong Negative
Bush: Strong Positive

06:43 AM   Edwards   #
Posted by Wendy