We, the undersigned physicians and surgeons, believe that healthcare reform cannot succeed without major reforms to the medical malpractice tort system. First, we need "loser pays". Other advanced nations require plaintiff attorneys who lose a malpractice lawsuit to pay the legal fees for a doctor who is found innocent. Second, we need limits set on awards for subjective, non-material damages. Awards for economic and medical damages, properly paid without limits, compensate patients for the measurable harms they suffer. Third, doctors can only be judged by juries of their peers, meaning other medical doctors, ideally in their same specialty. Neurosurgeons are not trained to determine the standard of care for an obstetrician; how can jurors with no medical education be expected to do so?
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