One of the reasons health care costs have risen so dramatically in recent years is the absurdly large torts that the trial bar extracts from juries and judges in medical malpractice cases. "It will be hard to make some of these changes if doctors feel like they're constantly looking over their shoulders for fear of lawsuits," a prominent Democrat said the other day. He continued, "I understand some doctors may feel the need to order more tests and treatments to avoid being legally vulnerable." The prominent Democrat expressing concern about excessive malpractice settlements was President Obama, speaking to the American Medical Association yesterday. The White House transcript notes that the audience, filled with doctors, erupted in applause when Obama brought up liability reform. The AMA opposes the public option, the government insurance program at the heart of ObamaCare. So you would think that a cap on malpractice settlements would be the sort of sweetener Obama might include in a compromise plan in order to bring the opposition into the fold. You'd be wrong, though, because Obama immediately curbed the AMA's enthusiasm: "I want to be honest with you," he said. "I'm not advocating caps on malpractice awards." Rather, Obama went on, he wants to "explore" a "range of ideas" regarding "how to put patient safety first." In other words, Obama has no specific proposal on this important issue to doctors that might make them think twice about opposing his overall plan. Maybe he'll leave all that to the unelected technocrats at MedPAC, as David Brooks suggests today. With the possible exception of cuts in Medicare that Republicans have said are necessary for more than a decade, has the administration given conservatives any reason to support ObamaCare? UPDATE, JUNE 17, 9:21 A.M. A reader notes: "The word "tort" is defined as "a civil wrong for which a remedy may be obtained" or, in the plural form, "the branch of law dealing with such wrongs" (Black's Law Dictionary, 7th ed, p. 1496). The trial bar does not extract "large torts" from the court system. Lawyers do, however, frequently extract large awards of damages FOR torts defendants are found to have committed." Noted.