Opinion
A Matter of Perspective
Crowds have lined up this week to learn about consumer-driven alternatives to government-based health care reform. They're learning about ideas that actually improve care and reduce costs.
Opinion
Session Coming Into Focus
The "short" session of the North Carolina General Assembly convenes in early May, and it's already becoming clear what the major agenda items will be for consideration.
Opinion
Look Who’s Coming to Dinner?
The North Carolina Senate returns to Raleigh this week for a special session focused on medical malpractice. It's a serious issue, but why are lawmakers really coming to town?
Opinion
Two Bills, One Chance at Life
Two major pieces of legislation -- a death-penalty moratorium and medical-malpractice reform -- failed to move in the North Carolina General Assembly this year. Only one can be resuscitated in 2004.
Opinion
No. 668: Medical Malpractice Reform: Getting It Right
Sen. Robert Pittenger's bill in the N.C. General Assembly is a good start toward reform of medical malpractice lawsuits.
Opinion
The Latest on Medical Malpractice Reform
As North Carolina's legislative spotlight returns to the medical malpractice issue, a new poll finds support for capping pain and suffering awards.
Opinion
No. 647: Civil Justice or Legal Lottery?
President Bush and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina represent two contrasting sides of legal liability settlements. Candidate Bush gave bold views with specific goals during the campaign. Last week in Scranton, Pa., Bush renewed a call to cap "pain and suffering" awards at $250,000. Edwards said recently that the administration plans would benefit the insurance industry at the expense of patients injured by doctors. He and Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Patrick Leahy of Vermont want to shift the blame and impose "tougher regulation of insurance companies." They believe that victims have a right to unlimited access to compensation ? from presumed deep pockets.
Opinion
Blaming the Docs
Medical malpractice premiums in North Carolina have soared in recent years, discouraging many doctors from living and practicing here. Trial lawyers have an explanation: doctors are simply making more mistakes.
Opinion
The tragic life and death of a poster boy
He was held up as the poster boy of racial preferences in the fight against California’s Proposition 209, the ballot initiative outlawing preferences passed overwhelmingly in 1996. An ardent defender of preferences, in 1995 he was profiled as their best defense in the pages of The Nation, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.
