NADER TELLS BUSH TO BACK UP HIS CHARGE OF FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader attacked President Bush Feb. 12 for misleading Americans in his State of the Union speech and other speeches about the need for medical liability reform because hospitals and physicians are having their costs rise to unacceptably high levels as the result of "frivolous lawsuits."

"You need to substantiate your claims of 'frivolous lawsuits' with more than mere assertion," he wrote. "Judges know how to throw out of court any 'frivolous lawsuits,' and the truth is that jury verdicts and court payouts have decreased over the past year.

"So, while you continually argue that a nationwide cap on medical malpractice damages would drive down health care costs, the evidence simply does not substantiate your claim."

He said the administration's proposed caps on awards "rewards insurance company greed, avarice, and dishonesty by absolving them of their responsibility to injured Americans" and "protects those guilty of mismanaging insurance company investments."

He reminds Bush he was "a fierce defender of states' rights as the governor of Texas" and asks: "Has states' rights, as a fundamental tenet of the Republican Party platform, been tossed out of the window along with fiscal conservatism by your administration?"

Nader was the Green Party candidate for president in the last presidential campaign.

He has not announced yet whether he will be a candidate in the upcoming election.

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