The Bush administration is working hard on tort reform -- not through Congress but through the Supreme Court. Now that Bush has a majority most of the time, the Court has been issuing increasingly conservative decisions that preempt state laws on consumer safety.

Already, one decision, Riegler v. Medtronic, protects the medical device industry so long as it seeks federal approval for its product before selling it to the public. Even the doctors are worried. When the doctors worry about medical safety, it is time for you to worry also.