For Immediate Release

	September 10, 2004 NBA PRESIDENT KEENAN ADDRESSES THE LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS OF HEALTH CARE ISSUES IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY AT CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS BRAINTRUST Friday, September 10, 2004- Yesterday, National Bar Association President Kim M. Keenan participated on a congressional braintrust of professionals addressing the legal ramifications of the lack of access to health care within African American communities. The panel was convened by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) as part of the 34th Annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference held September 8 – 11, 2004 in Washington, D.C. Keenan joined medical professionals in addressing how African Americans and other minorities receive substandard care and very little preventative care. “The result is that many African Americans, particularly women and children, receive care that at its best is and at its worst its gross negligence. Rather than work to improve the quality of health care for all Americans, conservative and special interest forces have target destroying tort laws to limit the liability of tortfeasors. It is critical that we understand this issue and the devastating implications of these attacks on existing law. Rather than pitting doctors and lawyers against each other, energy would be better spent attacking the industries, which thrive financially on limits, while still increasing medical premiums and the cost to the community.” Congresswoman Lee called upon the National Bar Association to consider using the law to reinforce medical care as a “civil right of all Americans.” Lawyers should explore ways to investigate and if necessary challenge those responsible for discriminatory treatment of minorities in the provision of medical care. The National Bar Association, founded in 1925, is the nation's oldest and largest association of attorneys of color, representing a professional network of over 20,000 lawyers, judges, educators and law students.