Senator Frist's Conflict of Interest 

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn) is leading President Bush's crusade for "medical malpractice reform" in the Senate even though he has an obvious conflict of interest, according to the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR).  According to the FTCR, Senator Frist and his family own at least $25,000,000 worth of stock in HCA, the nation's largest hospital chain, and HCI, the nation's fifth largest medical malpractice insurance company, which stand to benefit significantly from the proposed legislation that would limit the amount of damages that could be awarded to injured patients in lawsuits. 

In his zeal to get the proposed legislation passed, Senator Frist brought the bill before the full Senate on July 7, 2003, thereby bypassing the usual and customary public hearings.  Of course, what can one expect from a person who used to obtain stray cats from animal shelters so that he could cut them up, as Frist has admitted.

HCA just recently settled a fraud case brought by the Justice Department.  As part of the settlement, HCA agreed to repay $631 million plus interest that the government contends the company obtained by fraud.  This is in addition to a $250,000,000 settlement that HCA reached with Medicare and Medicaid last year.