>I think Justin is missing the even larger context. Victims of medical
>negligence have, in my opinion, no more moral claim for compensation
>than victims of unfortunate accidents. In both cases civilized
>societies should provide resources in relation to need, not in relation
>to another's negligence. And if medics are negligent, this should be
>a matter for professional regulation, or criminal law, depending on
>circumstance.
True enough, but the U.S. is not a civilized society by this standard, and the current political battle is over whether to cap malpractice awards radically or not. An acquaintance was mangled by a Dallas hospital, spent some time in a coma and now is largely paralyzed, but thanks to tort reform in Texas, his award is capped at $250k. The doc and the hospital will carry on unpunished. The current system sucks, yes, but the live choice now is whether to keep it or suffer a nationalization of the Texas model.
Doug