ABSTRACT - Op-Ed article by Philip K Howard on sorry state of justice in American health care, with doctors going on strike and even quitting because of ruinous increases in liability premiums, patients dying in their thousands because of simple slip-ups, and seeming inability to revoke licenses of inept physicians; says demise of bill capping damages in malpractice cases can be seen as opportunity to break free from partisan stalement which presents doctors and patients as natural enemies; calls for reliable justice, offering doctors protection against baseless malpractice claims and providing patients with quicker compensation without legal costs; says expert judge, not jury, should decide what is valid claim; drawing (M)

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