Trial lawyers have been the ones to police doctors and hospitals with the knowledge that if they are negligent in practicing medicine, their patients will not be the only ones who suffer. In Texas that is no longer the case. There is a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering now, so if a drunk doctor amputates the wrong leg (victim is now without both legs), if the victim was a kid, house wife/husband, or retiree they would have trouble finding an attorney to take the case. Without an ability to recover loss of future earnings since there are none to prove, they can only recover the medical cost and $250k. The expert can cost as much as half of the recovery, the attorney has to post a bond in case the claim is found to be frivolous. In many cases it is not worth the risk for the attorney who has to put his/her time and money in the case, and only gets paid and the expenses back if there is a recovery. Even a home run in this instance has the victim pocketing a small amount for a lifetime of pain and suffering.
Because of this medical providers know there is little to fear if they really screw up. The state medical boards don't really police their own. Their malpractice insurance rates never really declined, which was one stated reason for the tort reform in the first place. Study's have shown that 6% of doctors commit 90% of the malpractice. Those 6% are safe now!
The other stated reason was the big lie that the media and public have accepted as Gospel, that we Trial Lawyers file frivolous suits all of the time! In a national poll of Judges, 98% said that they do not have a problem with frivolous suits in their court. The reason is that we don't get paid and the case expenses that we pay for do not get reimbursed if there is no recovery. It is hard enough to get a legitimate case paid, much less a "frivolous" one. Many of the examples of frivolous cases filed have turned out to be made up and never even happened. Others, like the McDonalds coffee case are distorted to make them seem like "Jackpot Justice!" Google Stella Liebeck and McDonald's coffee case to learn the truth that the media never bothered to report. Don't be fooled the next time that you hear calls for tort reform against the "Ambulence Chasers!"
Tort Reform, Big Pharma buying off doctors, and commercials telling you to "talk to your doctor about_____" are just a few of the things wrong with our health care system. Thanks for posting, I am going to check my doctors now!
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