Personal Injury Law

Tort Reform is not the Real Solution

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

While many people are discussing tort reform, it has become apparent that such a measure will do nothing to cut medical costs. In the debate, some critics are going so far as to cite the lack of tort reform as a major deficiency of current proposals. They are blaming ballooning health care on trial lawyers when in fact they are using tort reform to shield their corporate benefactors from accountability for their wrongdoing. Medical malpractice claims are greatly justified considering the fact that 98,000 people die every year as a result of preventable medical errors. Every day thousands of Americans trust their lives to the medical system only to have mistaken diagnoses, misread charts and medication errors. The Seventh Amendment to the Constitution guarantees Americans the right to a fair trial before a jury of their peers. This core right affirms the responsibilities citizens have in a free society and the accountability of all before the law. Even despite this constitutional right, skyrocketing insurance premiums are not the result of malpractice litigation and the high cost of medical care stems more from doctors than fears of malpractice suits. The 2007 Congressional Budget Office estimates that costs associated with medical malpractice claims amounted to only 2 percent of overall health care spending. Studies also suggest that the high cost of medical insurance has no correlation with the frequency or amount of malpractice payouts but is actually a result of insurance companies paying the market and exploiting fears of malpractice in order to keep premiums high. To read more about tort reform, please click the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on September 19, 2009 (boomark / email).