This document was prepared by leftist groups in favor of government run health care. It was also funded in part by the trial lawyers.
Our tort system is out of control. The rest of the world does not provide a jackpot justice system. Republicans passed some reforms related to class action lawsuits. The SC stopped some outlandish punitive damage practices. The rats want to undo some of these reforms.
These reforms not withstanding, many still believe that our tort system is jackpot justice. Why would medical litigation be any different than litigation against manufacturers? The answer is that the medical situation is no different.
If you are interested in the impact of medical malpractice on physicians, you should focus on physicians not the total health care expenditures. Most physicians indicate that medical malpractice premiums are a large expense. For example in Colorado, a state with strong limits on non economic damages, a surgical orthopedist pays $50,000 in premiums even if he has never been sued. In other states without limits, the rates are considerably higher. These rates and the threat of jackpot justice hang heavy over every physician.
The issue of medical malpractice obscures the larger issue of medical tort reform. Physicians are only one part of the picture. Hospitals, drug companies, medical equipment manufacturers, and other providers bear an even heavier burden than physicians.
Do not fall in the rat trap. Tort reform will bring a balance between greater societal needs and victim needs.
There was actually a book/report called Jackpot Justice which has pretty much been ripped to shreds. Much info in it was pure crap. I read the whole thing. It is rubbish.
Our tort system is not out of control. Jackpot Justice compared costs in the US to other countries without bothering to mention that the comparison countries has national health care , so that medical costs were not part of the judgment and costs.
Tort reform does sometimes lower medmal premiums, but not always. Health care costs do not decrease. And to make matters worse, the largest part of actual malpractice goes unreported and un-compensated.
You are being fooled by big business which is trying to escape responsibility for its mistakes.
parsy, who says responsibility should not be sluffed off that way