A new Public Citizen report shows that while medical malpractice payments are at near-record lows, health care costs continue to rise. You can read about the report on Public Citizen’s website. This makes one thing clear: claims that medical malpractice lawsuits are driving the high costs of health care are bogus political games. One thing you’ll rarely hear from proponents of tort ‘reform’ is an emphasis on patient safety. Also, they won’t tell you that among the alarming number of documented injuries and deaths caused by medical negligence, very few of the victims even file suit.

Although tort ‘reform’ is not reducing instances of medical negligence, it is a very effective way to deny the victims of medical negligence compensation and allows medical providers to escape accountability. For all of the talk about accountability and responsibility you hear from tort ‘reformers,’ they are happy to provide an exception where patient safety is involved.