[Speed Gibson,
Monday July 19, 2004 at 10:56pm]
Biting the Hand that Feeds You
ABC's John Stossel of "Give Me a Break" fame was interviewed on The Dennis Prager Show on Wednesday, July 14. (Mark Larson of San Diego's KCBQ was guest hosting.)
Mr. Stossel made a profound point in discussing the need for tort reform, such as by adopting the "English rule (loser pays)" that is actually the worldwide standard. He pointed out that for a lawyer to make millions like, say, Senator John Edwards, you have to sue the most valuable people and services in society. That's why you sue the OB/GYN doctors who allegedly make the slightest slip, not the orderly in the nursing home that allegedly forgot to check on an 85 year old diabetic who lapses into a coma and dies.
In other words, it isn't just the money per se that determines the target of all these frivolous, dare I say fraudulent lawsuits. Stossel is suggesting that the big money (as in salaries and fees for service) is naturally going to accrue to those people and professions who practice and provide the most valuable skills, such as surgeons and police officers.
So not only are these overreaching lawyers costing us money by inflating the cost of goods and services. Not only are they removing perfectly good products from the marketplace like hot chocolate from a menu (might burn a child) and silicone breast implants (now exonerated, but the damage was done). Worst of all, in the high dollar cases, they are attacking the very people and organizations that we need most.
We read every month about doctors getting out of these high legal risk professions like obstectrics. Those that remain practice defensive medicine like caesarian section, risking the mother's life in fact. And we all pay the higher health care and insurance bills thanks to avaricious lawyers.
Police officers are obviously paid much less than doctors, but it takes many of them to be an effective force. In a large city (they seldom bother Fergus Falls), the total police budget can easily reach hundreds of millions of dollars, with thousands of employees - trip wires in the eyes of those who would abuse the law for their own profit. Every million dollars paid in these large settlements would do the city and society far more good if reinvested in the police and other public works. Police can and are disciplined, even fired, when they step out of line. The threat of a major lawsuit with its unpredictable outcome does little more.
It's time to get serious about tort reform, and that will take a sizable Republican majority. As Hugh Hewitt says, "If it ain't close, they can't cheat."
Mr. Stossel made a profound point in discussing the need for tort reform, such as by adopting the "English rule (loser pays)" that is actually the worldwide standard. He pointed out that for a lawyer to make millions like, say, Senator John Edwards, you have to sue the most valuable people and services in society. That's why you sue the OB/GYN doctors who allegedly make the slightest slip, not the orderly in the nursing home that allegedly forgot to check on an 85 year old diabetic who lapses into a coma and dies.
In other words, it isn't just the money per se that determines the target of all these frivolous, dare I say fraudulent lawsuits. Stossel is suggesting that the big money (as in salaries and fees for service) is naturally going to accrue to those people and professions who practice and provide the most valuable skills, such as surgeons and police officers.
So not only are these overreaching lawyers costing us money by inflating the cost of goods and services. Not only are they removing perfectly good products from the marketplace like hot chocolate from a menu (might burn a child) and silicone breast implants (now exonerated, but the damage was done). Worst of all, in the high dollar cases, they are attacking the very people and organizations that we need most.
We read every month about doctors getting out of these high legal risk professions like obstectrics. Those that remain practice defensive medicine like caesarian section, risking the mother's life in fact. And we all pay the higher health care and insurance bills thanks to avaricious lawyers.
Police officers are obviously paid much less than doctors, but it takes many of them to be an effective force. In a large city (they seldom bother Fergus Falls), the total police budget can easily reach hundreds of millions of dollars, with thousands of employees - trip wires in the eyes of those who would abuse the law for their own profit. Every million dollars paid in these large settlements would do the city and society far more good if reinvested in the police and other public works. Police can and are disciplined, even fired, when they step out of line. The threat of a major lawsuit with its unpredictable outcome does little more.
It's time to get serious about tort reform, and that will take a sizable Republican majority. As Hugh Hewitt says, "If it ain't close, they can't cheat."