Solutions To The Outrageous Healthcare System-(A Harsha Sankar Article)

Dear Citizen, May 2003

Congratulations to the Bush administration on America's liberation of Iraq.

Diplomatic resources should be used to resolve remaining Middle East conflicts. Undivided attention must now focus on the causes of this nation's health-care crisis. Doctors are being driven out from their practices, hospitals are being shut down, the nursing shortage is extremely acute, and necessary risk-taking and innovations has significantly diminished. The quality of health care has drastically reduced to the point avoidable mistakes and lack of access has caused more deaths than guns. Healthcare cannot be competently provided if medical personal are hampered by numerous and subjective laws and regulations and also by constant fear of totally destructive litigation. Many honest mistakes have to be accepted as inherent risks. Other errors should be remedied accordingly. Only blatantly avoidable mistakes,willful harm, and gross negligence, without the benefit of hindsight, should be punishable by incarceration and/or fines. The Courts, as last resort, should provide justice and not indulge in anyone's greed.


While tort cases grab headlines, it is the regulatory lawyers who have contributed equally to the demise of honest work for honest pay with results in God's hands. Managed care and many new complex laws are fertile ground for these predators. In 1983 in Virginia, there were a handful of healthcare attorneys. There are over five hundred now.

Laws should not be written exclusively by lawyers.

Judges should be prohibited from belonging to any private group solely comprising of attorneys.

Harsha Sankar
908 Valley Ridge Road
Covington, Virginia 24426