Personal Injury Law

It is time to Stop Tort Reform Myths

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

In Washington, President Obama stated that he would be open to suggestions about constraining medical malpractice lawsuits. However, repeated studies have shown that approximately 100,000 people die each year due to medical malpractice in our nation?s hospitals. These occur because physicians or hospitals fail to meet the normal standard of care. For example, say a hospital allows an expectant mother to lie in one of its labor rooms, fails to notice for several hours that the fetal monitor shows the fetus in distress, and the child is born severely brain damages. Should that hospital be insulated from a medical malpractice lawsuit? If so, who will pay for the lifetime care of the child? Rumors that medical malpractice lawsuits are consistently rising are completely false. In the state of New York, medical malpractice lawsuits have decreased by 30%. Since plaintiffs lawyers work on a contingent basis, frivolous lawsuits are not filed. If you want to reduce the number of medical malpractice cases, reduce negligent behavior that causes victims to sue. Please click the link to learn more about tort myths.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on December 08, 2009 (boomark / email).