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Rep. Steve Cohen, D, already chasing Murtha's ambulance
By: David Freddoso
Online Opinion Editor
02/08/10 6:26 PM EST
In a television interview this afternoon, Democratic Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen pronounced judgment on the doctors who were operating on Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., when he died. Cohen, a government attorney before he began his political career, was asked about tort reform in health care when he brought up Murtha's death:
"As we speak today, Rep. John Murtha died. And he was my friend, and he served this country for many years...He died because, when he went in for gall bladder surgery, his intestine was perforated. And that shouldn't have happened. It was, from what I understand, malpractice."
Cohen might even be right, but it would be a coincidence: he all but admits his lack of full information, and not every surgical complication is the result of medical negligence.
Murtha's body is still warm. Is this the time for a congressman who lacks full information to go making pejorative statements like this on television? Is Cohen planning to bring a lawsuit himself? Will Murtha's death become a rallying cry against medical malpractice legal reform?
By the way -- Murtha was one of the few House Democrats who supported medical malpractice reform.
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