Dubya has been talking up Tort Reform, but has totally ignored the health care crisis in the US.
And that is really to bad, because the two are very closely related.
A big part of every claim for personal injury is reimbursment of medical expenses. In fact, medical costs are the biggest part of many law suit damage claims.
Others damages are lost wages; which are only paid to active workers, not retired persons or children or the unemployed.
Another element of damages is pain and suffering, but this has been limited in many states by no-fault auto insurance legislation.
And, in serious cases, were someone actually dies, the plaintiff must prove that the person was conscieous long enough to experience pain! Which is actually quite rare in serious accidents!
For example, if a person falls into a swimming pool and drowns and no one witnessed the event. It is often claimed that pain and suffering can not be paid, because the person "might have fainted" and was already unconscience when they fell in; therefore they experienced no "pain."
Get the picture? It's not all in favor of the Plaintiffs.
And juries are not all pro-plaintiff all the time. Many juries are very serious minded, and some are even "cheap!" Of course you never read about these cases in the newspapers, or hear complaints from the insurance lobby.
Finally, judges have always had the ability to "re-mit" or cancel excessive damages and threaten a new trial thereby.
BUT BACK TO THE BIG ISSUE: MEDICAL EXPENSES.
IF DUBYA WANTS TO REALLY KNOCK THE WIND OUT OF LAW SUITS, HE SHOULD IMPLEMENT A SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE SCHEME LIKE THE ONE IN CANADA. ASAP.
UNDER THE SINGLE PAYER PLAN, DAMAGE CLAIMS FOR MEDICAL REIMBURSMENT WOULD NOT BE ALLOWABLE IN LAW SUITS, THUS ELIMINATING A BIG ELEMENT OF DAMAGES!
JURY AWARDS WOULD PLUNGE.
AND IT WOULD BE A DEFACTO "NO FAULT" LAW AGAINST LAWYERS AS THE RISKS OF INJURY WOULD NOW BE "SOCIALIZED."
SOME LEGISLATION ON EXCESSIVE PUNITIVE DAMAGES AND PAIN AND SUFFERING WOULD COMPLETE THE TORT REFORMS
AS FOLLOWS:
1. PUNITIVE DAMAGES SHOULD BE RELATED TO THE "DEEP POCKETS" OF THE DEFENDANT; PERHAPS NO MORE THAN 20% OF "NET WORTH."
THE WHOLE IDEA OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES WAS TO BE "LIKE A FINE" IN CRIMINIAL CASES. BUT, IT SHOULD NEVER BE A BONUS OR "FINER'S FEE" FOR THE PLAINTIFF.
2. PAIN AND SUFFERING SHOULD BE CAPPED AT ONE MILLION DOLLARS, IN CASES WITH THE MOST SERIOUS AND PAINFUL INJURIES.
BUT THERE NEEDS TO BE A "THRESHOLD" OF FACTS THAT MUST BE PROVEN FIRST; TO EVEN ALLOW THE PAIN AND SUFFERING ELEMENT OF DAMAGES INTO A CASE.
3. AND JUDICIAL REVIEW OF EXCESSIVE DAMAGE AWARDS SHOULD BE EXPANDED.
BUT IT ALL STARTS WITH NATIONAL HEALTH CARE FOLKS!
YOU CAN'T HAVE MEANINGFUL TORT REFORM, WITHOUT MEANINGFUL NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM.
BECAUSE, YOU CAN'T SATISIFY BOTH THE BIG INSURANCE LOBBY AND THE BIG PHARMA/MEDICAL LOBBY AT THE SAME TIME.
