For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 9, 2003

President Disappointed with Senate's Failure to Pass Medical Liability Bill
Statement by the President on Medical Liability Reform Legislation

I am disappointed that the Senate has failed to pass medical liability reform legislation. The Nation's medical liability system is badly broken, and access to quality health care for Americans is endangered by frivolous and abusive lawsuits.

The medical liability crisis is driving good doctors out of medicine, and leaving patients in many communities without access to both basic and specialty medical services. The American people want and deserve access to doctors in their own communities, yet the number of physicians has decreased in states without reasonable litigation reforms. The liability crisis, particularly the use of defensive medicine, also imposes substantial costs on the Federal government and all Americans.

This is a national problem that deserves a national solution. The House of Representatives has already acted. For the sake of all Americans, it is time for the Senate to pass meaningful medical reform liability legislation and get it to my desk.