Dan Frisa
Monday, June 11, 2001

Working closely with the trial lawyers' lobby, which contributes millions of dollars in campaign cash to Democratic lawmakers and their foils, such as John McCain, these liberal senators are seeking to exploit state courts as a source of unlimited revenue for the very lawyers who have paid them off.

Hey, McCain, what about your holier-than-thou "campaign finance reform" which you've yapped about for so long? Guess you only used it as yet another vehicle to get yourself more TV time, eh? Otherwise you'd be "shocked" and "outraged" that the folks you're in bed with on this issue have trampled your other "do-gooder" cause.

No surprise, though, as you long ago exposed yourself as a hypocrite. And you've done it again with this one.

As is typical with other left-wing public relations tactics, they've chosen a name for their proposal that sounds wonderful: "Patients' Bill of Rights."

Wow! How can anyone be against that?

Well, anyone who actually knows what's in the bill, that's who!

The major provision, which has drawn opposition from the White House, would allow trial lawyers to file suit, without limitation, in state court to seek the multibillion-dollar jury verdicts so commonplace these days.

The problem, of course, is that the only sure result is that someone will pay for these outrageous awards, and that "someone" is us, because lawsuit payments, like every other cost, get passed on to the consumer and taxpayer.

The president understands this economic reality and is unwilling to fall prey to the ususal posturing and mantra perpetuated by the left.

The president believes that patients must have the unfettered ability to access emergency room and specialist care. He also believes that when circumstances are such to justify legal action following improper care, patients must be able to pursue their case in court without limitation for compensatory damages.

As a public policy consideration, however, it is untenable to allow unlimited actions for punitive damages that so often result in fiscally irresponsible runaway jury awards, which will bankrupt the system.

Other provisions provide for medical review of proposed care, to ensure that sound medicine – not the bottom line – is the basis for treatment decisions.

So, the McKainnedy bill will only feather the nest of trial lawyers and, therefore, the left-of-center liberal politicians who carry their water and greedily gobble up their cash contributions.

It is important to stop McKainnedy now before the left does to health care what it did to energy prices in California.

Dan Frisa represented New York in the United States Congress and served four terms in the New York State Assembly.

E-mail Dan: danfrisa@newsmax.com.

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