Here are my suggestions on greatly reducing medical lawsuits:

First, the doctors need to stop listening to their lawyers. American juries are smart; when you make a mistake, admit it, try to fix it, and you will be forgiven. One study showed there are close to 50 percent fewer lawsuits (and 50 percent less money awarded) when doctors apologize instead of lawyering up.

Second, stop trying to remember everything and use checklists. I was amazed when I realized that most of the medical community tries to remember, in their heads, important things that can kill the patients. Studies show there are around 50 percent fewer mistakes made when medical staffs use checklists.

Third, use better hand-washing. I read that 1 percent of all surgical patients are dying because of infections. The number of infections has dropped by half when rigorous hand washing was required.

Expect no tort reform from Washington, D.C. Doctors need to fix the obvious problems first.

Peter Gregory, Corvallis