Medical malpractice efforts stall; Analysis in Texas reveals rural doctor gap

Politico reports that President Obama's initiative to institute medical malpractice reforms has stalled, falling prey to politics and tight money. In Texas, tort reform analysis reveals a widening doctor gap between cities and rural areas.

Politico: Medical Malpractice Reform Efforts Stalled
In a bid to win support for health reform from skeptical doctors back in 2009, President Barack Obama pledged action on an item near the top of their wish list -; malpractice reform. And he delivered an initial step: $25 million to test alternatives to the medical liability system. That won praise from the American Medical Association, among others. But since then, tort reform on the federal level has been put on ice, a victim of both tight money and bitter politics (Norman, 11/7).

The Associated Press: Doctor Gaps In Texas Persist Despite Perry's Stats
An analysis of (Gov. Rick) Perry's tort reform initiative in Texas reveals a more complicated bottom line than his campaign rhetoric on the issue would suggest. State medical data show that the number of physicians practicing in Texas has increased since the initiative passed in 2003, though by considerably less than the total Perry cites. And the bulk of that influx has come in larger cities where health care was already abundant, leaving large rural swaths of Texas still without doctors (Weber, 11/7).