Not a whole lot new has happened, which gives me the opportunity to do what I like best.  Having been accurately depicted by George Will as a narcissist who believes that people actually care about my ramblings, I will ramble on, today about tort reform.  Being an anesthesiologist for almost 20 years, I have been involved in medical malpractice and personal injury cases, both from the defense and plaintiff's sides.

Regarding medical malpractice, as a physician, the overwhelming majority of my colleagues have bought the line of the AMA that tort reform equals caps on non-economic damages.  I am not one of those.  History has shown, in California and more recently in Florida that this is not the answer.  In California, caps instituted in the late 1970's had little effect.  The malpractice crisis continued until the late 1980's, when insurance reform was instituted, and insurers refunded $70 million in overcharges.  To this day California malpractice premiums are below average, but not because of caps.

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