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Lawsuit Abuse News
more lawsuit abuse news in Sick Of Lawsuits
Judicial Probe looking at big jury awards
"Federal investigators, probing possible judicial corruption in South Mississippi, also are looking into multimillion-dollar jury awards in Jefferson County…The FBI has subpoenaed records from Bankston Drug Store, a small business that has been a defendant in several lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies. Instead of suing only the drug makers, lawyers often sue drugstores and doctors in a legal maneuver to keep cases in state courts, which have been more apt to award large verdicts than federal courts." The Sun Herald, Thursday, June 12, 2003
Editorial: Reforming Class Actions
"The House of Representatives passed a bill
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last week that would take a modest but important step toward fixing America's broken system of class action litigation…no area of U.S. civil justice cries out more urgently for reform than the high-stakes extortion racket of class actions, in which truly crazy rules permit trial lawyers to cash in at the expense of businesses. Passing this bill would be an important start to rationalizing a system that's out of control." The Washington Post, June 14, 2003
Welcome to Sue City, USA
"We can all agree that one injured medical patient is one too many. But one falsely accused doctor is one too many as well. Somehow, we must restore a sense of responsibility, and of proportion. To do so, we must create a new system of medical justice…tort litigation is costing us all." U.S. News and World Report, June 16, 2003
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What people are saying...
read more quotes about lawsuit abuse in Sick of Lawsuits
"This excessive litigation is leading to higher healthcare costs for every American and instability for our healthcare providers…Medical liability reform is no longer a Republican vs. Democrat issue, or even a doctor vs. lawyer issue. It is now a patient issue."
Senator John Ensign, "Curing the nation's medical liability crisis" The Hill, June 11, 2003
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"Doctors, patients, employers, workers, all stand to benefit from House Bill 4. The only folks hurt in the pocketbook… are the plaintiff's trial lawyers who have profited from frivolous lawsuits by gaming the system. That is over with in Texas."
Texas Governor Rick Perry, "Governor ceremonially signs tort reform bill" Associated Press, June 11, 2003
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Florida Both chambers of the Florida state legislature voted to extend the special session addressing medical malpractice reform until June 27. In June, the House and Senate each passed bills that differ on the amount of caps on damages.
Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed a bill that could lead to a constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to enact legislation to limit jury awards in medical malpractice and other civil lawsuits. If passed by the Senate, the bill will need to be considered again in the next legislative session before it goes to Pennsylvania voters in a referendum.
Federal On June 13, the House approved the Class Action Fairness Act (H.R. 1115), which seeks to reform multi-district class action lawsuits. Under the bill, a class-action suit involving large numbers of similarly situated plaintiffs would be heard in federal court if the case involves plaintiffs from multiple states and damages in the case are expected to exceed $5 million.
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Our Broken Healthcare Liability System - The Stats
$11,000: Liability costs per bed for nursing homes in the state of Florida (Aon Risk Consultants, Inc. Long Term Care: General Liability and Professional Liability Actuarial Analysis, February 28, 2002).
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1,825: Average number of days that successful litigation claimants must wait for compensation after their injury takes place. (Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law before the House Judiciary Committee, testimony presented by Physicians Insurance Association, June 12, 2002)
92.4%: Percentage of high-risk medical specialists who said that liability pressures were important in their decision to stop providing certain services. (PR Newswire, April 3, 2003)
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For press inquiries, please contact Rossanna Salazar at: 1-800-476-1442
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