OB-GYN-L Messages for August, 2004: Some Republicans Reluctant To Criticize Sen. Edwards Over Malpractice Issue

Some Republicans Reluctant To Criticize Sen. Edwards Over Malpractice Issue

From: Lynn D. Montgomery, M.D.

dean@thehuffpeople.net

Mon Aug 23 17:20:37 2004

Election 2004 -- Some Republicans Reluctant To Criticize Sen. Edwards Over Malpractice Issue

[Aug 23, 2004]

The Washington Times on Monday examined some Republican strategists' reluctance to attack Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) "too harshly" about his career as a personal-injury trial lawyer, despite polls indicating that most U.S. residents support tort reform. Although President Bush "does not shy away from noting Mr. Edwards' career on the stump," Republicans are wary of repeating the strategy of Edwards' 1998 Republican Senate campaign opponent, Lauch Faircloth, who "spent a lot of money attacking Mr. Edwards for making millions from personal-injury lawsuits," the Times reports. An unnamed Republican who worked on Faircloth's 1998 campaign said, "Every time we talked about it, he'd bring out one of his clients who was some victim in a terrible tragedy," including children and parents. The Times cites an example in 2002 when President Bush -- in North Carolina to support the candidacy of Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) -- advocated a cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases and criticized Edwards for representing clients who won what he called the "litigation lottery." Edwards responded by arranging a conference call with the parents of a girl who had died of cerebral palsy.

Avoiding Comparison in Florida?

Republicans also may be looking to avoid comparisons between Edwards and Republican Florida Senate candidate Mel Martinez, a former personal-injury trial lawyer who has been endorsed by national Republican leaders. According to the Times, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has released stories of Republicans attacking Edwards' career, but placed "Martinez's name in parenthesis behind Edwards' name" (Hurt, Washington Times, 8/23).

Opinion Piece

Although some of the five malpractice reforms outlined in Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry's (Mass.) policy plan "are helpful and constructive," the Democrats' malpractice recommendations together "give Mr. Kerry's backers in Big Law no reason to feel threatened or betrayed," Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. The Democratic campaign's recent focus on what Kerry calls "meaningful but enactable" malpractice reform shows the candidate is trying to "de-energize" business and medical groups who have pledged to "actively combat a ticket that would bring the Association of Trial Lawyers of America so close to the seat of power," Olson states. According to Olson, Kerry's plan to require malpractice cases to receive a "certificate of merit" before moving forward "almost certainly does more good than harm" and "does little to cramp the style of seasoned malpractice lawyers." Olson adds that Kerry's plan to require mediation is "potentially helpful;" his plan to limit punitive damages would "add little to the protections most states already afford doctors;" and his "three strikes and you're out" for frivolous claim policy would be more symbolic than substantive. Olson concludes that while Kerry's plans may turn out to be "mere lip service," the candidate's focus on the issue at least shows that "we may be nearing the end of a national debate on whether, and moving on to a debate on how" (Olson, Wall Street Journal, 8/23).

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