MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

There were two news articles in weekend newspapers recently concerning the "Lakin story" and one of them merits comment.

One of the definitions of "primogeniture" in Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary is "an exclusive right of inheritance belonging to the eldest son."

The hard-to-believe behavior of Illinois Senate Democrats last week reveals two facts that advocates of medical liability reform -- indeed any kind of civil justice reform -- need to come to grips with.

Congrats To Lakin, Tillery, Carr, Bono, Tom Maag And His Father, Etc.

Ed Murnane Early in 2003, when a class action reform bill (SB 1158) was introduced in the Illinois Senate, I spoke with then-State Sen. Barack Obama about the bill and what it was intended to do: require that class action suits be filed (and certified, if merited) in appropriate venues. The bill does nothing more.

Illinois doctors and hospitals, who rose to a higher level of political support and activity than has been seen in many years, perhaps ever, can be forgiven if they portray last Tuesday's Supreme Court election as a "referendum on medical malpractice." Even some Southern Illinois political leaders have described the historic election that way.