Hawaii State Representative Tommy Waters loves lawyers. They support his efforts in Hawaii’s house to prevent the so-called “tort reform” that many of Hawaii’s doctors want.
Doctors get sued by their patients, sometimes deservedly so, sometimes not. What doctors want is some kind of legal protection from the State against the proliferation of ridiculous legal claims against them, hence ‘tort reform.’
Lawyers love to sue on behalf of their clients, especially when the target of the suit is a rich doctor. They’re suing more doctors these days and the doctors don’t like that and want the laws changed. Lawyers, of course, don’t want any change in the laws that would harm their lucrative tort practice. They make a lot of money suing people. Representative Tommy Waters, himself a lawyer, commands the Judiciary Committee and has vowed to kill any tort reform measures, not on behalf of his constituents or Hawaii’s citizens, but obviously on behalf of his, uh, campaign supporters, many of whom are, you guessed it– lawyers.
Doctors have threatened to leave Hawaii unless laws are changed in their favor. Many of them have left already, unable to make money with the handouts from HMSA and other HMO’s, and unable to afford malpractice insurance premiums to practice in Hawaii.
We live in something of a free market economy, so all of this will work itself out eventually. In the meantime, if you can’t find a good doctor willing to treat your illness at a price you can afford, call Representative Tommy Waters. He’s a doctor.
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