|
Editor:
How can President Bush and Republican congressional leaders go to
such great lengths to protect the rights of malpractice victim
Terri Schiavo, but wouldn't think twice about taking away the
Constitutional right of every other victim of medical negligence
to fair and just compensation? Could it be politics?
When they can get lots of media attention and pander to their
base, Republicans in
Washington
will climb over one another to protect the rights of a malpractice
victim. But if you're one of the hundreds of thousands of other
people injured or killed by malpractice every year - the people
whose cases don't make national headlines - they won't lift a
finger to help you, and they'll tell you your life's only worth
$250,000. Their hypocrisy is truly shameful.
The cap on non-economic damages being pushed by the president and
his congressional allies would reduce the value of the lives of
people just like Terri - stay-at-home mothers, housewives,
children, retirees, the poor, the mentally ill and other non-wage
earners - to a maximum of $250,000.
While we deeply sympathize with the many years of pain and
suffering endured by Terri and her family as a result of medical
negligence, politicians who promote caps as a way to solve the
so-called "malpractice crisis" can't have it both ways.
They can't defend the rights of Terri and not the rights of
everyone else injured by malpractice. Every victim deserves
respect, sympathy and justice, regardless of whether it's
politically advantageous.
Paul R. Lyon, Executive Director
The Committee for Justice for All
|
