President Obama announced in his State of the Union speech that he would deal with Republicans on one of their pet issues, reform of medical malpractice.
But nothing is likely to get done, because congressional Democrats oppose the GOP's trademark solution to high liability costs -- a federal law capping damages that malpractice victims can receive.
They are right that a cap is too arbitrary. But the debate shouldn't end there.
Both parties should find common ground on innovative approaches that not only reduce jury awards but also help doctors and hospitals correct underlying problems.
Those approaches -- now being tested in more than 20 locations -- start with the recognition that the current system has several flaws.
The most obvious is that the threat of frivolous lawsuits drives up doctors' insurance costs, which get passed on to patients.
Fear of suits also causes doctors to practice "defensive medicine," ordering unnecessary tests just to prove that they covered all the bases.
Meanwhile, the current system fails to provide any relief to many patients who suffer from medical mistakes but are never informed of them or cannot find lawyers to represent them.
