WASHINGTON -- In his appeal to Congress for health care reform, President Barack Obama isn't ignoring calls for changes in medical malpractice laws.
Obama told lawmakers and a national TV audience Wednesday night that he wants to look at a "range of ideas" to "put patient safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine."
Obama says some in Congress believe medical malpractice reform can help bring down health care costs. He says he doesn't think it's a "silver bullet," but that he knows that doctors practicing "defensive medicine" can lead to unnecessary costs.
He says he's telling Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to move ahead with demonstration projects to see what changes would work best.
(The preceding article was distributed September 17, 2009 , by the Associated Press.)
