The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 4, 2003 Page: 2 of 24
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THURSDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2003
THE CANADIAN RECORD
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INCORPORATED FEBRUARY 1998
BEN EZZELL
Editor & Publisher 1948-1993
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NANCY EZZELL Publisher
LAURIE EZZELL BROWN Editor
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Advertising Manger
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News & Features
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PHOTOGRAPH":
Laurie Ezzell Brown, Cathy Ricketts,
Seth Davidson
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P.O. Box 898,
Canadian (Hemphill) Texas 79014
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E-mail address: editcr@icanadlanrecord.com
Periodicals postage paid at the Post Office in
Canadian, Texas. Published weekly
in Canadian, Texas, by Nancy M. Ezzell.
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The Canadian Record, Box 898,
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2003
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
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The Proposition 12 Placebo
BAFFLED BY ALL THE B.S. you've heard about Proposition 12 in
what has become a heavily-financed campaign to limit non-economic
damage awards in medical liability lawsuits? Here are a few questions
to ask yourself before you fill in the blanks on your ballot this Septem-
ber 13.
Has your friendly family doctor ever campaigned for regulation of
the health insurance industry, or for comprehensive universal health
care coverage?
Has your friendly family doctor ever expressed his moral outrage
and/or concern over the fact that 41 million Americans are currently
without health care coverage?
Has your friendly family doctor ever refused to accept your health
insurance coverage, or refused to treat you because you have none?
Has your friendly family doctor ever, to your knowledge, expressed
his moral outrage over the fact that Texas lost a potential $618 million in
funding for Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) because the
state failed to meet the required matching amount, or that up to 170,000
Texas children lost their CHIP coverage?
In fact, all Proposition 12 offers us as a remedy for these ills is a kind
of trickle-down treatment with a placebo effect. Lower the cost of physi-
cians' medical liability insurance, we are told, and surely health insur-
ance will become more affordable to the common man.
Remove some of the more financially punitive consequences of me-
dial malpractice for physicians and nurses* and they will flock to this
state to establish their practices, making health care ever so much more
accessible to the common man.
And if that's not enough to convince you, the battle over Proposition
12 pits the kindly old family doctor of "Father Knows Best" lore against
the ambulance-chasing, flame-breathing trial lawyer we've all learned
to loathe and fear. Good vs. evil. Right vs. wrong.
Trouble is, Proposition 12 does more—so much more—than simply
limit medical malpractice awards and protect poorly trained or incom-
petent or uncaring doctors. It constitutionally authorizes the Legisla-
ture to determine limitations on non-economic damages in any civil
dispute, effectively taking away the opportunity for citizens to seek le-
gal recourse in the courts. It removes judicial review from other envi-
ronmental or product liability issues including, in the words of one
attorney, "drunk drivers, polluters, manufacturers of dangerous prod-
ucts, negligent makers of unsafe tires or exploding gas tanks, or corpo-
rate criminals who have destroyed the life savings of their pensioners
and employees.''
Proposition 12 puts politicians in charge of deciding civil cases, in-
stead of judges and j uries. It is, in the words of one editorial writer, "a li-
cense for legislative mischief." And really, the State of Texas has more
than enough of that to go around already.
Vote no to Proposition 12, take two aspirin, and you'll feel better in
the morning.
OUR POLICY
Letters to the Editor
LETTERS TO THE EDITORS of the Canadian Record
are always welcome, and will be published if they are
signed and cannot be considered libelous. We will not pub-
lish anonymous letters under any circumstances.
We ask that all letters be accompanied by a home or
work phone number so that we can verify the letter
writer's identity if necessary Letters may be edited for ex-
cessive length.
Each letter should be clearly marked "Letter to the Ed-
itor," and should be received in our office no later than
Wednesday noon for publication in that week's newspaper.
Please mail letters to: The Canadian. Record, PO. Box
898, Canadian, TX 79014, or by fax to (806)323-5738, or by
e-mail to editor@canadianrecord.com
We encourage our readers to use this public forum to
express their own opinions and to address issues which are
of concern to them or to the community at large.
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 4, 2003, newspaper, September 4, 2003; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220594/m1/2/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.