Jim Walters, Iowa City

Letter to the Editor

Rep. Steve King correctly asks for bipartisan support to limit damage awards on non-economic claims in medical malpractice lawsuits [King: My bill would reduce health costs, July 16]. But he's entirely off base in implying that these claims have any impact on the very real shortage of doctors in Iowa.

The reality is that Iowa is becoming a backwater where educated people no longer wish to live. Our children have been fleeing the state for years — for better jobs, more cultural opportunities and a better quality of life.

We have allowed our lakes and streams to become so polluted that few wish to swim, fish or recreate in them. We have allowed the state to be overrun by confined livestock operations that degrade the quality of life of anyone who lives near them. We've allowed our education systems — from K-12 through our state's universities — to decline in the name of fiscal conservatism.

That doctors don't want to live (or raise their children) in Iowa shouldn't come as much of a shock.

— Jim Walters, Iowa City