13 Sept 2009; "60 Minutes" tv new show; Hey, Steve Kroft !! you need to do your homework on "TORT REFORM", talk to some high quality MDs who are

paper-error, NOT patient-error, FINED by state governments like California to the tune of $25,000.oo to $250,000.00 EACH, for a PAPER mistake !! This is not traditional ,conventional , surgeon - patient "MEDICAL MALPRACTICE" that most of us think of, but this IS a failure of state government from the Governors to the State Legislature of California and probably other gouging misrun states, looking for easy marks , professionals who are very respected and do a very high standard of medical work, but ocassionally make a paperwork mistake with a sizeable staff of from 10 employees to over 20 per doctor, any of which employees could make such a paper filing mistake. No one is 100% perfect, so do we expect our State of California sorry-ass excuse for a government to be so unreasonable and unfair and impractical, with rampant greed, that scares away MDs and potential MDs from ever practicing in California or other incompetent state governments , when we have an aging baby boom population and the "Public Option" tettering because of a few million loser wacko fiscally-incompetent and debt tsunami-wave riding Republicans ?

So let me educate you, Steve Kroft. I talked to one of the most famous surgeons in California today. We have been friends for 50 years. And tho i am not in medicine as a career, i have heard him complain before about the low and late repayment of Medical work, for instance. But today at breakfast, he told me something that most of the public has not been told i believe, that the State of California is looking for any ,ANY, paperwork mistake, such as "sending the x-rays to the wrong insurance company" is an "AUTOMATIC $25,000.00 FINE THAT THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SAYS THE DOCTOR MUST ASSESS IMMEDIATELY ON HIS BUSINESS, WITH NO POSSIBLE REFUND". Steve Kroft, are you following this ? This is NOT what most people think about when they hear your cutting question of " TORT REFORM " to President Obama, big words , but there is so much more to this story. This is THE REAL CRIME OF MEDICAL MIS-REGULATION BY THE STATES.

Another paper error cost $250,000.00 ; yes, that is correct Two Hundred and Fifty THOUSAND Dollars. And that normal , understandable , no harm done cost must be passed on to patients like us. And it is not just the most competent but not perfect doctors, it is the highly respected and very professional dentists, such as mine in Cupertino who is "fine raided by the State of California regularly and fined for such silliness as wearing cotton instead of (cotton/polyester or polyester?) uniforms !! This same highly professional dentist recently had his office building bought by some Chinese who lowered the rents of the Chinese tenants,,,and raised it on the non-Chinese Caucasian tenants !!

This is ridiculous and unfair, when computer companies in Silicon Valley making $$$$$ millions have their property taxes reduced or waved by San Jose , because the city is rightly afraid of losing big employers due to incompetent city government. In California you can only sue a doctor or hospital in the first year, that is if you can find an attorney qualified to represent the patient's side !!

So Steve Kroft, please don't swing at our President with a loaded phrase like "TORT REFORM" in an accusing tone, until you have done your homework and presented it as a current issue re-examination on the once respected and once rightly famous for doing its homework "60 Minutes".