Thursday, January 20, 2005
A Step in the Right Direction
Regular readers (if there are such) will know of my ongoing search of the media for evidence of interest in prevention as an approach to the malpractice problem.
Well, I just found some.
The lead editorial in the January 9, 2005 issue of the Sunday New York Times was titled Malpractice Mythology and dealt with the Bush administration’s efforts at “tort reform.”
As might be expected, the editorial was critical of the Bush approach. It set out a number of objections but then closed with the following statement:
“Although the administration has been sponsoring some projects to reduce medical errors or speed the resolution of claims, these have faded behind the full-court political press to impose ‘tort reform.’ Instead of fixating on an idea that would do little to solve anything but the health care industry’s desire for fewer big court awards, Congress should push for a wide range of demonstration projects aimed at solving the malpractice problem by actually cutting down on malpractice.”
A two-sentence paragraph at the end of an editorial does not make a social movement, even if it appears in the Sunday New York Times.
But it’s a step in the right direction.
Regular readers (if there are such) will know of my ongoing search of the media for evidence of interest in prevention as an approach to the malpractice problem.
Well, I just found some.
The lead editorial in the January 9, 2005 issue of the Sunday New York Times was titled Malpractice Mythology and dealt with the Bush administration’s efforts at “tort reform.”
As might be expected, the editorial was critical of the Bush approach. It set out a number of objections but then closed with the following statement:
“Although the administration has been sponsoring some projects to reduce medical errors or speed the resolution of claims, these have faded behind the full-court political press to impose ‘tort reform.’ Instead of fixating on an idea that would do little to solve anything but the health care industry’s desire for fewer big court awards, Congress should push for a wide range of demonstration projects aimed at solving the malpractice problem by actually cutting down on malpractice.”
A two-sentence paragraph at the end of an editorial does not make a social movement, even if it appears in the Sunday New York Times.
But it’s a step in the right direction.
