Posted on 08/09/2006 1:04:55 PM PDT by Mount Athos
Imagine if an evil business routinely deprived us of products that would help us live longer with less pain and more comfort. We'd be outraged, and lawyers would line up to sue. Yet something similar happens today, thanks to lawsuit abuse. Makers of all kinds of products are afraid to sell them to us because one lawsuit could ruin them.
Personal-injury lawyers claim they make America safer, but that's a myth. It's easy to see who benefits from those big damage awards we read about. Less obvious -- but just as real -- are the things we'd all like to have but never will get because of this climate of fear. Here are a few examples.
Monsanto once developed a substitute for asbestos -- a new fire-resistant form of insulation that might save thousands of lives. But Monsanto decided not to sell it for fear of liability. Richard F. Mahoney, the CEO at the time, said, "There may well have been a safe, effective asbestos replacement on the market, and now there isn't."
Why do we have to worry about shortages of flu vaccine? Because only a handful of companies still make it. And why is that? Because when you vaccinate millions of people, some get sick and sue. Between 1980 and 1986, personal-injury lawyers demanded billions of dollars from vaccine manufacturers. That scared many American drug companies out of the business.
In 1986, Congress stepped in. To help curb the lawsuits that discouraged vaccine production, the government established a fund called the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. It would pay victims' families directly so they wouldn't have to hire lawyers and suffer the delays of litigation. This was supposed to entice vaccine makers back into production, but drug companies were still leery, fearing that plaintiffs' lawyers would sue them anyway.
They were right to worry. Eli Lilly developed a mercury-based preservative called Thimerosal that was used in many children's vaccines. Plaintiffs' lawyers jumped on scaremongers' claims that mercury causes autism in children. Although a government-issued review found no such link, more than 100 autism lawsuits have been filed against vaccine makers since the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act passed. No wonder most drug manufacturers still steer clear of vaccine research.
Even when new vaccines are discovered, drug companies are sometimes afraid to sell them. The FDA has approved a vaccine against Lyme disease. Want some? Forget about it. No company wants to take the risk.
Fear of being sued reduced the number of American companies researching contraceptives from 13 to two.
After scientifically groundless lawsuits against breast-implant makers bankrupted Dow Corning, Japanese silicone makers stopped producing a pain-reducing silicone coating for hypodermic needles. A company director said, "We're sure our product is safe, but we don't want to risk a lawsuit."
Union Carbide has invented a small portable kidney dialysis machine. It would make life much easier for people with kidney disease, but Union Carbide won't sell it. With legal sharks circling, the risk of expensive lawsuits outweighs the possible profit.
Are you pregnant and nauseous? Bendectin would probably cure your morning sickness. For 27 years doctors prescribed the drug to 33 million women because it was so good at stopping nausea and vomiting. But you can't buy Bendectin today because lawyers kept suing the manufacturer, Merrell Dow, claiming the drug caused birth defects.
Studies did not show that Bendectin caused birth defects, and Merrell Dow won most of the lawsuits. But after spending $100 million in legal fees and awards, the company gave up selling the drug. Bendectin has never been effectively replaced, and morning sickness is now a major contributor to dehydration during pregnancy.
Dr. Paul Offit, professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, says, "Within two years of discontinuing Bendectin, the incidence of hospitalization for dehydration during early pregnancy doubled; the incidence of birth defects was unchanged."
Those are just some of the life-enhancing products we know we must do without because America's peculiar legal system makes it profitable for trial lawyers to pursue extortion -- like litigation. What wonderful products will we never even hear about because the lawyers have created a climate of fear?
We need "Loser Pays" laws, like they have in England.
You sue somebody, and lose, you have to pay the other party's attorney's fees.
Healthcare costs would go down immediately, and trial lawyers would become scarce.
Bingo! We have a winner. :-)
"because America's peculiar legal system makes it profitable for trial lawyers to pursue extortion -- like litigation."
For a small business like the one I own, just the costs of defending ourselves against one of these frivolous suits would put us out of business.
It really IS extortion when basically all the law firm has risk is time, and you have to defend with money.
If there is any money to pay out you can be sure that you will either be forced to settle out of court or spend hundreds of thousands in legal fees to avoid a judgement against you.
I had a friend that owned a small business that produced custom switch panels for industrial applications.
One of his designs was put in a military installation in NC.
A soldier working on some electrical equipment downstream of the switchbox lost an arm when he made contact with high voltage in the equipment.
IT WAS CLEARLY THE SOLDIERS FAULT FOR NOT FOLLOWING STANDING ORDERS TO LOCK OUT AND TAG THE SWITCHES CONTROLLING POWER TO THE EQUIPMENT HE WAS WORKING ON. Electricity 101.
But some shyster lawyers sued everyone in the supply chain from the prime contractor right on down to my friends business.
The result?
25 people out of work, business bankrupt, and the equipment my friend made was in no way at fault. It met ALL safety requirements. He just couldn't afford the $500,000 to defend himself.
I despise lawyers.
Until this country passes tort reform and makes the plaintiff pay ALL legal fees if they lose, this will not stop!
Lawyers and suit happy citizens view it like buying a powerball lottery ticket. All they risk is time since it is usually done on a contingency basis.
And too often they win these frivolous suits or get large out of court settlements.
Thanks for the interesting reply.
I wish this thread got as much interest and passion as the story I posted about the guy hitting a grenade with a sledgehammer.
Jackpot justice cripples our country.
The cumulative effect means we fall further behind other nations because of these parasitic suits sabotaging business, especially small business.
They'll just find really poor people who can't pay and make sure they have taxpayer funded Legal Aid.
It's another example of a society on the verge of breaking...when religion is taken out of Society it has to be be replaced by something and that something is money. and money is now worshipped like a God, whatever it takes to get it becomes OK. We see it everyday, people doing things for money that even just a decade ago would unthinkable. Yes, money has always been important, but religious education puts it in perspective...and we don't have that anymore.
So be it.
It will still be a lot better than what we have now.
LOSER PAYS!!!!!!!
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