January

THE PITFALLS OF TORT REFORM

In May of 2006, The New England Journal of Medicine released and article entitled Claims, Errors, and Compensation Payments in Medical Malpractice Litigation. This article described a study that was done in response to the debate over tort reform and the existence of so - called frivolous medical malpractice litigation. A frivolous claim is one that presents no rational argument based upon the evidence or law in support of the claim. Critics of the medical malpractice system, mostly hospitals, physicians and their insurers, blame skyrocketing healthcare costs on unwarranted medical malpractice lawsuits.

The study involved trained physicians who reviewed 1,452 closed malpractice claims to determine whether medical injury had occurred. The study revealed that 72% of claims that the reviewing physicians determined did not involve error or injury were dismissed with no compensation. "Payment of claims not involving errors occurred less frequently than did the converse form of inaccuracy - nonpayment of claims in which error occurred. The physicians who participated in the study reached several conclusions:

1. Portraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolous or non-sense lawsuits are exaggerated;
2. Most people who are injured never file a claim;
3. Very few people receive compensation they do not deserve;
4. Most people who deserve compensation do not get it;
5. The court system does a good job of weeding out valid claims from invalid ones; and
6. Focusing on ways to combat frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits will not have a significant effect on bringing down the cost of healthcare.

In fact, a recent Wall Street Journal article suggests that consumers / patients would be in a unfortunate situation without the intervention of trial attorneys. Many hospitals, physicians and manufacturers, without pressure from trial attorneys, would continue to minimize or ignore complaints from their customers. Often times, these culprits do nothing to correct known defects in products or change outdated treatment policies until they are hauled into a court of law. Citizens need to protect their rights, especially at a time when so many regulations have been removed or made ineffective for the benefit of the corporations.

If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Jesse Harris, please contact Jesse Harris at (312) 782-4119 or 877-JVH-4LAW. Also, you can email Mr. Harris at harris@harrislawfirm.biz.