President Calls for Liability Reform in Washington State
June 17, 2004
I got up to Washington -- I got up to Washington and I thought for a while that medical liability reform was a state issue, and then I saw the effects of the practice of defensive medicine on the U.S. budgets.  I mean, think about what the frivolous and junk lawsuits do to -- do to our budgets.  We've got Medicare and Medicaid budgets, and veterans health budgets.  And these lawsuits are running up the cost to the U.S. taxpayers, making it hard for people -- small businesses, in particular, to stay in business.  It's running docs out.  We've got docs leaving the profession all over our country.  And that's not good.  Listen, the doctors are compassionate, decent people who are healing on a daily basis.  And if they can't make a living because of junk and frivolous lawsuits, our system will hurt; our communities will hurt. 

And, therefore, I decided that medical liability reform was a federal issue, and worked with the House of Representatives to put good legislation forward -- good, sound legislation with real caps; legislation that will allow somebody who's been injured by a bad doc to have their day in court, but legislation which also will make sure we're not running good docs out of business.  It passed the House, it is stuck in the United States Senate. Your Senator will not vote for medical liability reform.  (Applause.)  We need to get medical liability reform unstuck.  One way to do it is to put George Nethercutt in the United States Senate.  (Applause.) 

Click here to read the full text of President Bush's speech.