Latest Symptoms of a Broken System

News About Lawsuit Abuse

• This year, Legislature must close tort reform loopholes
  Mississippi's battle to end lawsuit abuse in our courtrooms (also known as tort reform) is about creating a business and legal climate in our state where working families will have an abundance of job opportunities, access to health care, and modestly priced insurance rates. - The Sun Herald, December 13, 2003

• Medical Liability Reform a Priority for Bush
  "For the sake of our health care system, we need to cut down on the frivolous lawsuits which increase the cost of medicine. People who have been harmed by a bad doc deserve their day in court. Yet the system should not reward lawyers who are simply fishing for a rich settlement. Frivolous lawsuits drive up the cost of health care." - Whitehouse.gov (Press Release), December 1, 2003.

• OpEdge
  No quick fix
  The medical liability crisis is deep, it is real, and even with the passage of Proposition 12 it will not be alleviated overnight. - The Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, November 25, 2003

• ATRA Cites 13 'Judicial Hellholes' in New 2003 Report Identifies Courts Where 'Equal Justice Under Law' is Elusive
  The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) today released Bringing Justice to Judicial Hellholes(TM) 2003, a report that identifies 13 jurisdictions where the law is consistently applied unfairly. The result, says ATRA, is lawsuit abuse that costs consumers, compromises access to affordable healthcare, and acts as a drag on the economy. - PR Newswire, November 6, 2003

• PA Business Leaders Rank Lawsuit Abuse As A Top Concern
  "Pennsylvania businesses ranked lawsuit abuse/tort reform as one of the top legislative issues impacting the business community, according to a Zogby International economic survey commissioned by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry." - Yahoo! Financial News, September 30, 2003

• Tuck vows end to "lawsuit abuse"; Plans announced in Gulfport speech
  "Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck on Monday said that if re-elected, she will push for more tort reform, including more caps on lawsuit damages and creation of a medical malpractice review board, to help end "lawsuit abuse" in Mississippi." - The Sun Herald, September 30, 2003

• Rising malpractice costs hurting all
  In an article on the crippling effect that frivolous lawsuits are having on Nevada's elderly since malpractice insurance rates for a local seniors facility have escalated, the Record-Courier reports that, "Elders on a fixed income are hard hit when they need help most." - The Record-Courier, September 24, 2003.

• President Bush Renews Committment to End Lawsuit Abuse - In his weekly radio address, President Bush urged members of Congress to enact reform that would end lawsuit abuse. ''We need to address the broader problems of frivolous litigation", Miami Herald, September 21, 2003

  
  

• Texans Pass Proposition to Limit Non-Economic Medical Liability Awards On September 13, Texans secured a victory in the fight against lawsuit abuse by voting to pass Proposition 12, a constitutional amendment limiting non-economic damages in medical liability lawsuits.
  
  Read More on Proposition 12:
  
  "Texans approve proposition limiting civil lawsuit damaes", The Dallas Morning News, September 14, 2003
  
  Voters OK lawsuit limits, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 14, 2003
  
  "Texans pass Prop. 12 in statewide election", Houston Chronicle, September 14, 2003
  

• Letter to the Editor-A dose of common sense needed to solve medical crisis "Instead of disregarding patient care, possibly this unholy marriage between so-called 'consumer groups' and trial lawyers should begin to address lawsuit abuse. Personal injury lawyers have a 70 percent error rate with malpractice claims, but the Committee for Justice for All suggests nothing to fix the broken tort system. Is there any justice to this?" - Edward H. Dench, Jr., MD, President, Pennsylvania Medical Society, The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, September 16, 2003
  Read the entire letter

• Opinion Editorial: When patients take medical advice from lawyers
  "Recent news stories have focused on the tidal wave of lawsuits being directed against the U.S. pharmaceutical industry because of adverse side effects that a few patients experience... On the surface, these reports may look like just another example of trial lawyers versus corporate titans, but the less obvious and more important story in all this is how litigation may be creating a new health-care crisis." - Chicago Tribune, September 7, 2003

• Hospital worker arrested for medical record theft - August 28, 2003 - Disturbing story about the arrest of a hospital worker accused of selling medical records to a company that filters information to personal injury lawyers.
  

• Assembly Poised to Pass 'State-Sanctioned Extortion' Bill - July 8, 2003 - "Senate Bill 122 (Escutia) is a gift to personal injury lawyers that is masquerading as reform."
  

• Lawyers Exploiting the Mentally Ill - June 27, 2003 - Many mentally ill patients who might otherwise be helped by new drugs are being dissuaded by trial lawyers who use scare tactics to lure clients and sue drug companies.

• Letters to the Editor: Cowboys and Lawyers - June 17, 2003
  

• Texas Bill Limiting Lawsuit Awards Gets Final Approval - "Texas lawmakers gave final approval… to a bill that would limit lawsuit awards… House Bill 4 [will] make sweeping changes in the way Texans file and win lawsuits…Doctors said the bill would provide them with much-needed relief from frivolous lawsuits." Fort Worth Star-Telegram - June 2, 2003

• Meaning of 'Frivolous' Lawsuit is the Problem, Bar Chief Says - Opnion editorial in the Sun Herald, May 31, 2003

• Bad Consequences - Opinion editorial in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. May 31, 2003

• CALA: Lawsuits Are Making Us Sick - Group Highlights National Healthcare Crisis Caused By Litigation - May 6, 2003
  
  

• Lawsuit Abuse Is Making Illinois Sick - I-LAW Launches Regional Tour to highlight Area's 'Sick' Healthcare Liability System - May 1, 2003

• Healthcare Lawsuits Make Us Sick - Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse to Raise Awareness of Healthcare Emergency - March 3, 2003

• "Bayer is facing more than 8,000 lawsuits after its widely used cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol was withdrawn from the market. At least 6,000 of those suits, however, are being filed by people who did not suffer any side effects whatsoever." Scott Gottleib, M.D. The New York Times, February 26, 2003.
  
  

• Even though she admittedly had never been harmed by the heartburn drug Propulsid, Hazel Norton of Rolling Fork, Mississippi joined a mass action against its makers because she "thought she might get a couple of thousand dollars." When her doctor subsequently left the state in response to excessive litigation, Norton commented, "I'm kind of upset. I do not want him leaving because of all the suits. If we run off all the doctors, what are the people gonna do?" Clarion Ledger, "Tort Reform: Just What the Doctors Ordered?" July 29, 2002.

• "Voters Say 'Too Many Lawsuits,' According to New National Poll on Tort Reform, " PR Newswire
  Feb 27, 2003
  The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) today released the results of a national poll that found eighty-three percent of Americans think there are too many lawsuits filed in the U.S. and that greedy personal injury lawyers are to blame. Tort reform enjoys broad bipartisan support as a way to curb frivolous lawsuits.
  
  

• "Curing Health Care: Legal Malpractice," The Wall Street Journal,
  January 27,2003
  by Philip K. Howard
  “American healthcare will continue to hurtle toward new crises unless our reform agenda is more aggressive… Broader legal reform is needed to restore order to a system that is careening wildly.”
  
  

• "A dozen surgeons walk out on Mississippi's Gulf Coast" Associated Press,
  January 27, 2003
  “A dozen Mississippi surgeons took leaves of absence Monday, and about 1,000 doctors in Florida planned to stay away for two days, all in protest of soaring medical malpractice premiums.”