State medical malpractice task force:Having the hanging before the trial

A new state task force on medical malpractice doesn't need to hold any hearings or do any research on whether there should be limits on awards for pain and suffering for victims. That's a foregone conclusion, the chairman says. The only question is how low the limits will be.

The Journal Sentinel reports:

"This task force was not convened to discuss the merits of caps; that conclusion was reached in the affirmative 10 years ago," the task force's chairman, Rep. Curt Gielow (R-Mequon), said, referring to the 1995 bill that put a cap of $350,000 into effect. Indexed for inflation, it stood at roughly $445,775 by the middle of 2005.

Trouble is, the state Supreme Court threw the law out. But it left the door open for a new law that might pass muster, and Gielow promises an "appropriate, fair, equitable proposal to mandate such caps, given our interpretation of the court's ruling."

A new blog called DubyaIsFredo has more of an analysis of what so-called "tort reform: is really all about -- taking away people's right to their day in court.