REFORMS" DISREGARD EPIDEMIC OF DEATH
January 14, 2005 08:31

As President Bush headed to Michigan to try to sell the bailout bill for the asbestos companies, he talked about the bankruptcy "crisis," which is on par with Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the Social Security "crisis." There is no crisis. The firms that have declared bankruptcy haven't laid off workers, cut down executive pay, or stopped turning a profit. Halliburton is the latest company to "emerge" from asbestos bankruptcy proceedings. Asbestos is a public-health crisis not a bankruptcy crisis. Federal and industry health records show clearly that Mr. Bush should be talking about the 10,000 Americans who will die this year from asbestos diseases, not the proposed bailout for the companies who bear responsibility for exposing them. At least 1,140 Michigan residents have died from asbestos disease in the past 20 years. The fine print of the President's bail out plan will dramatically cut and in many cases eliminate help for the thousands of Michigan residents who will get sick and die from asbestos in the years ahead.

***** EWG Action Fund, 01/06/2005 For complete story, see http://www.ewg.org/reports/asbestos/update20050106.php *****

Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney general, said that he had uncovered evidence of wrongdoing among insurance brokers and insurance companies on a far larger scale than he had anticipated when he began investigating the industry nearly a year ago. "Many brokers, with the assistance and collusion of insurance companies, engage in systematic fraud and market manipulation," Mr. Spitzer said at a hearing of the Insurance Committee of the New York State Assembly in Lower Manhattan. "We did not anticipate the sheer magnitude of this practice." In an interview, Mr. Spitzer said that since he sued the Marsh & McLennan Companies, the largest broker, on Oct. 14, he had been building cases against other brokers and insurers and was now "in discussion with several entities" aimed at settlements. He declined to name any companies other than Marsh, which he accused in the lawsuit of rigging bids and improperly steering clients to high-paying insurers. An executive at Marsh and five executives at three insurance companies have been charged with fraud or antitrust violations.

***** The New York Times, 01/08/2005 For complete story, search http://query.nytimes.com/search/advanced?srchst=nyt $ - The New York Times charges $2.95 for each archived article retrieved *****

"Stormy Session Ahead After Veto Of Insurance Bill," The Washington Post, 01/10/2005 For complete story, see http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64240-2005Jan10?language=printer *****

EDITORIALS AND COLUMNISTS NATIONWIDE CONDEMN PLAN TO BAIL OUT DRUG AND INSURANCE COMPANIES AT THE EXPENSE OF PATIENTS AND CONSUMERS

Dozens of newspapers across the country have criticized any proposed federal medical malpractice bill that does nothing to reduce insurance rates or protect patients, while at the same time bailing out the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry. ATLA was cited or featured in many of the stories.

Please visit www.atla.org/Medmal, our Medical Malpractice Resource Center and select "Newspapers Oppose Limiting Patients' Rights" to read excerpts of the best articles on this issue.