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TED Launches New Blog to Raise Awareness of Problems with Our Nation's Medical Justice System Blog Highlights Proposed Solutions Including Common Good’s Proposal to Establish Health Courts
Common Good Press Release
November 7, 2005 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) has launched a blog entitled, “ThisMakesMeSick.com” to highlight problems afflicting medical justice in this country. The blog – available at http://www.thismakesmesick.com/ – provides thought-provoking stories and personal commentaries of the medical liability crisis from multiple perspectives. The blog encourages consideration of several possible solutions, including the proposal to establish special health courts championed by Common Good.
TED is renowned for its prestigious, year-round activities which bring together thought-leaders in technology, entertainment and design, plus business, science, the arts, music, global issues, among other fields. The blog fulfills a wish granted to distinguished medical inventor Dr. Robert Fischell as a result of his winning the 2005 TED Prize.
“This blog is a great new vehicle for engaging the public in reforming medical justice,” said Philip K. Howard, Chair of Common Good. “Unreliable justice is impacting the daily decisions of every American, and this blog will provide the opportunity to explore solutions like special health courts.”
“I'm excited that the TED community has come together to help create a really innovative way of getting behind Dr. Fischell's vision,” said Chris Anderson, Curator of TED. “Now there's a great place on the web whose tone matches the sense of outrage everyone should feel about the insanity of the current system. With enough public interest, there's a great chance of accelerating support for the brilliant solution proposed by Common Good.”
Bi-partisan support is growing rapidly for Common Good’s proposal to create special health courts. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has expressed support for the idea, and Senate Health Committee Chair Michael Enzi has introduced legislation to fund pilot projects to test the concept. The Progressive Policy Institute – a Democratic think tank known in the 1990s as President Clinton’s “idea mill” – has formally endorsed it. And, at a recent PPI briefing on Capitol Hill, AARP, one of the nation’s most important consumer groups, supported the creation of pilot projects.
The concept of health courts was previously endorsed by a bi-partisan group of more than 80 of the nation’s most prominent leaders in health care and law. Those leaders include, among others: 10 university presidents; 11 medical school deans; 10 former high-ranking government officials from both political parties; and six current or former heads of healthcare policy, healthcare quality or patient safety organizations.
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