George W. Bush - Champion of the Jury System?

President Bush is a staunch supporter of the jury system – when it suits him. As governor of Texas, he refused to commute the death sentence of even a single condemned prisoner, citing the authority of the jury to determine the appropriate sentence. But when it comes to determining the appropriate amount of damages sustained by a victim of medical negligence, the President sings a different tune. While Governor Bush always deferred to the jury’s discretion over life and death, he believes that these same citizens can’t be trusted with such important decisions as how much money will compensate a mother for the loss of her infant child, or a husband for the loss of his spouse, or a child for the loss of a parent.

Among the Bush proposals for so-called “medical malpractice reform” are a $250,000 cap on damages for non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life. In other words, if a jury hears all the evidence in a case and awards the injured patient $500,000 for pain and suffering, under President Bush’s plan the judge would be required to reduce the award to $250,000, thereby overriding the decision of the jury. Such caps, which are already in effect in many states, including Colorado, are particularly onerous when the victim is a child, a senior citizen or a stay-at-home parent, as such victims do not typically have high economic damages.

One of President Bush’s closest political allies is former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee. You may or may not know that Senator Frist is a physician, a very prominent and wealthy physician. You may or may not also know that Senator-Doctor Frist is Bush’s point-man on medical malpractice “reform” in the Senate. And, you may or may not know that Senator-Doctor Frist is the son of the founder of HCA, the world’s largest hospital chain, a corporation that just recently agreed to repay the United States $631 million that it stole from the Medicare/Medicaid programs. Imagine how the Bush-Frist “medical malpractice reform” plan will benefit HCA.