OPINION

Medical liability reform -- let's do it together now!

AMA Leader Commentary. By Donald J. Palmisano, MD, Jan. 19, 2004.

A few words about current events in medical practice

A message to all physicians from AMA President Donald J. Palmisano, MD

For those who are concerned about the future of medical liability reform -- and what physician isn't -- I have good news.

Last month, in his news conference just after Saddam Hussein's capture was announced, President Bush once again expressed his support of such reform. "Unfinished business remains," he said. "The House passed a medical liability reform bill -- it is stuck in the Senate. ... When the House and Senate return in January, there will be more to do, and I look forward to working with them -- I've got a few ideas about what we can do together in the year 2004."

Just before the president held his news conference, I was honored to be invited to the president's meeting in the White House with six physicians from Iraq and Bud Alpert, MD, the American physician who encouraged their visit. Two of the Iraqi physicians just had joined us at the AMA Interim Meeting, Dr. Quraish Al-Kasir, president of the Society of Iraqi Surgeons, and his wife, Dr. Nahla Dawood.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD (R, Tenn.); Surgeon General Richard Carmona, MD; National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, PhD; and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs William Winkenwerder Jr., MD, also were present at the president's meeting.

President Bush was eloquent in his praise for the AMA on its potential for help in Iraq, and he thanked me personally for the work on Medicare reform. When I later met with Dr. Frist one-on-one, he, too, thanked the AMA for all our hard work with the Medicare legislation.

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