US President George W Bush has renewed his call for Congress to curb medical malpractice lawsuits and has signed an executive order aimed at providing Americans with more information about the cost and quality of health care services, according to a recent Reuters report.

Senate Democrats had blocked legislation in May that would cap damages for pain and suffering in medical liability lawsuits, arguing that a drive for corporate profits rather than lawsuits was behind the rise in health care premiums.

"These trial lawyers need to back off," President Bush told a health care forum before attending a fund-raiser for Minnesota Republican candidates for Congress. "A lot of OB/GYNs are leaving the practice because they're getting sued out of existence."

Legislation with a $250,000 cap has passed the House of Representatives repeatedly but has been blocked in the Senate.

Most Democrats and a few Republicans oppose the caps, at least at the federal level, and many states have already imposed lawsuit limits as well as insurance market reforms. Opponents of caps say they will protect insurers’ profits, not necessarily doctors or patients who have been harmed.

President Bush also signed an executive order requiring federal agencies that run health care programs to share information with employees on the prices for medical procedures and the quality of care.

"I think the new trend in medicine is going to include transparency in prices as well as transparency in quality," President Bush said.