Funny to see the Post use the term “speed up” in its headline, when the strategy is clearly to kick the tort reform can down the road and into the ditch to be covered by the first snows of winter.

• Washington Post, “Obama to Speed Up Tort Reform Tests, but Doctors Want More“
• Chicago Tribune, “Medical malpractice reform: Barack Obama plan to reduce lawsuits earns few backers“
• Kansas City Star, “Sebelius, Obama tiptoe into tort reform“
• Point of Law, “White House announces med-mal demonstration grants“

President Obama today sent a memorandum to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebalius instructing HHS to develop demonstration projects on patient safety and medical liability.

• Presidential Memorandum
• FACT SHEET: Patient Safety and Medical Liability Reform Demonstration
• Secretary Sebelius comments at White House press briefing.

Philip K. Howard, legal reformer and author, in The Atlantic, “The Menu of Malpractice Reforms”

American Tort Reform Association news release, “White House Memo, Trial Lawyer Position on the Need for Tort Reform Share Similarities”

UPDATE (5:25 p.m.): The American Association for Justice continues its suddenly frenetic fundraising, asking its trial lawyer members via e-mail to help pay a new ad campaign.

From last night’s speech:

Now, finally, many in this chamber — particularly on the Republican side of the aisle — have long insisted that reforming our medical malpractice laws can help bring down the cost of health care.  (Applause.)  Now — there you go.  There you go.  Now, I don’t believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but I’ve talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs.  (Applause.)  So I’m proposing that we move forward on a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine.  (Applause.)  I know that the Bush administration considered authorizing demonstration projects in individual states to test these ideas.  I think it’s a good idea, and I’m directing my Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward on this initiative today.  (Applause.)