For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 8, 2006

President Disappointed in Senate Failure to Pass Real Medical Liability Reform

I am disappointed that the Senate has yet again failed to pass real medical liability reform legislation. Unwilling to take on their trial lawyer supporters, the Democrats led this effort to block these much-needed reforms.

Junk lawsuits are driving too many good doctors out of medicine. Women in nearly 1,500 counties are without a single OB-GYN, and frivolous and abusive lawsuits are encouraging the use of defensive medicine, which imposes substantial and unnecessary costs on all Americans.

This is a national problem that deserves a national solution. I have called on Congress to pass responsible medical liability reforms, and the House of Representatives has acted. It is time for the Senate to put the needs of the American people ahead of the interests of trial lawyers and pass meaningful medical liability reform legislation.

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