DES MOINES -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the country's health-care system must move toward a patient-centered, consumer-driven system, but one that's also "provider friendly."

Frist, a heart surgeon, said he'll bring medical malpractice legislation to the floor of the U.S. Senate in the coming weeks, although he said didn't know if it would be successful.

"Right now, my fellow physicians are being driven out of the practice of medicine, are fleeing states because of these exorbitant malpractice, unfair malpractice premiums that are thrust upon them," Frist said.

Frist, a Tennessee Republican, is in the final months of his Senate term, and many believe he plans to join a crowded presidential field in 2008. He was keynote speaker at a convention of the Iowa Health System in Des Moines Monday.

Frist argues women in some parts of the country can't find an obstetrician to deliver their babies, and others shouldn't have to worry about whether a neurosurgeon is available to treat them.

The medical malpractice legislation Frist is pushing would have "flexible caps" of $250,000 for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering.

"What we're trying to get rid of are the unfair, unjustified waste of frivolous lawsuits and excessive reimbursement that does nothing to help the system or to help that individual or to correct, if it's a mistake of a doctor or a hospital," Frist said.

The Iowa Citizen Action Network challenged Frist's claims, holding a news conference with families who had seen a loved one injured or killed, because of what they believed was a medical error.

A 15-year-old Shenandoah girl, Krystal Lehman, broke down crying when she tried to describe how part of her right foot was amputated after what her family says was a botched surgery that punctured her aorta and other arteries.

Her mother, Mary Lehman said her daughter would never be the same. The girl, who now uses a wheelchair, is facing full amputation of both her feet next month, and her medical bills have hit nearly $1 million so far.

"She was an average 14-year-old, you know," Mary Lehman said. "She loved to ride horses. She loved to play basketball and badminton and swimming. And right now, she can't do any of that stuff."

Frist talked with reporters about a letter he sent to President George W. Bush calling for an investigation into gas prices and potential price gouging.

He said it is problematic that the country relies so heavily on unstable countries such as Iran and Nigeria as a supply for oil. In addition, refinery capacity is down below where it was when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

He said they'll have to work to address the liability issues surrounding ethanol rival MTBE, a fuel additive that some believe has contributed to groundwater contamination.

Contact Charlotte Eby at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.