Personal Injury Law

Nursing Home Relief Act Pulled By Industry After Release of Tort Report

By John A. Day

Tennessee ranks 12th of the 50 states on the U.S. Tort Liability Index.   The list measures the  tort climate from the standpoint of the business and insurance community, so a rank of "1" is a pro-business, pro-insurance company state and a rank of "50" is that dark, dreary place inhabited by anti-gun, anti-life, pro-child pornography, tree-hugging communists  who serve of juries (hereinafter referred to as "liberals").

North Dakota ranks first.  Florida ranks fiftieth.    North Carolina, Virginia, and Mississippi each have a higher rank than Tennessee; the other southern states rank lower.

In terms of "litigation risks"  Tennessee had the best pro-industry ranking in the country (doesn't that give you a warm, fuzzy feeling?).

Tennessee was one of five states earning "saint" status.  What is a saint state?  It is a state that has "relatively low monetary tort losses and/or few litigation risks and relatively strong tort rules on the books. These states are well positioned to contain their tort liability costs in the future if the rules are implemented as written."

Want to read the entire report?  Here it is.

Now, one would think that the Legislature will hear about this report, rejoice how good things are in Tennessee, and kill the nursing home legislation that would cap damages, sanction arbitration agreements, etc. 

Indeed, one might expect that the nursing home industry would ask that the legislation be killed given that this is one of the best states in the country to allow malpractice to take the health and the lives of the elderly or infirm.

Yea, right.  Just like you can expect a pig to back away from the trough.

Full post as published by Day on Torts on March 26, 2008 (boomark / email).