“Moore” attention to the crisis

The “zany” folks at the Center for Justice & Democracy will make what we think is their very first visit to Madison County today, holding a press conference prior to the President’s visit.

It’s hard to find credible any organization that has as one of its top advisors “filmmaker” Michael Moore. Moore has shown how friendly he is with the medical industry, pledging to start a new film project – with pleasant working title of Sicko – that “exposes” breakdowns in the healthcare system.

So it’s no wonder that the Moore-backed CJ&D is here to rip President Bush in his first visit to our Judicial Hellhole.

We featured the CJ&D a few weeks ago for the release of their new “zany” Top 10 immunity awards, which we believe are great examples of how state legislatures are reacting to just how crazy our civil justice system has become (if you missed it, please visit Ted Frank’s analysis on Overlawyered.com).

One immunity that is NOT mentioned in the study is one that would benefit doctors most in Illinois: immunity to apologize to their patients. The concept, which is inherently different from the trial lawyer’s SorryWorks proposal, would give medical providers the ability to say they are sorry for a 72-hour period after any medical mistake (we think the law would be even better without the three-day sunset) and has been annually sponsored by the Illinois State Medical Society (this year Senator Bill Haine pushed for the legislation).

The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association vehemently opposes all medical liability reform in our state legislature, including this very sensible reform. They, of course, ask doctors to say they are Sorry and then expect to use this apology as evidence against the doctor in court.

I’ll be on pins and needles wondering if the CJ&D will be stopping off at the Madison County Record after they ripped into the publication with a December release, again showing that the only “acceptable” view is their own Moore-inspired view. Not much “democracy” in that!