NYTimes Says Patients Must Be Able to Sue for Negligence

The New York Times editorialized: "Hoping to enlist support for his campaign for health care reform, President Obama told the American Medical Association this week that he would work with doctors to limit their vulnerability to malpractice lawsuits. That was a reasonable offer - provided any malpractice reform is done carefully." The Times says, "Whatever the alternative - tribunals, mediation - patients must retain the right to go to court and seek higher damages than they have been offered" because "that is the only way to deter negligence by doctors, hospitals and other health care providers."