Economos: The Need for National Tort Reform

By James P. Economos, DDS, Opinion Contributor

America needs national tort reform for many reasons. There’s been and continues to be a lot of abuse by lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits which drives up the cost of many goods and services.

Others are designed to damage society which is now called “lawfare” and needs to be stopped! Of course, the lawfare abuse against President Donald Trump is the most glaring example of legal abuse, but is beyond the scope of this piece.

Whether it’s medical malpractice, product liability or simply using the shotgun technique to try to get something to stick, the effects add costs to things and cancel good products or services. Additionally, there’s increasing activity to use “environmental” causes to extort money based on junk science politics.

And this is a dangerous trend, folks.

As to how tort reform should be implemented, the state of Texas shows us how this works and how it should be done. One example is what Texas did about twenty years ago. They limited the damage awards for what is known as “non-economic” damages. And what this does is limit the financial payments for a lawsuit where there were not any actual damages done. This is also called “pain and suffering.”

In the medical area for example, if there’s an award for malpractice, any damages done in terms of needed therapy, medicines and lost wages are not affected. What is limited is the punitive amounts where huge damage awards are often issued. This helps doctors and companies because the legal exposure is limited.

Staying in business is a good thing. Tort reform allows this to occur.

History’s replete with many companies relocating to business-friendly states, something Illinois certainly is not. National tort reform would be good for all. Looking back, there was a bill passed in 2005 called The Class Action Fairness Act, but it does not go far enough.

The abuse of the legal system raises the cost of medical malpractice insurance policies so that in Illinois for example, the malpractice payments are outrageous. As a result, doctors leave the state, retire early or join hospital groups. There are fewer independent physicians, or they become corporate employees – losing their autonomy as a result.

Did you know that the average cost for malpractice insurance for an OB/GYN’s is $120,000; general surgery $84,000 and emergency doctors $64,000? ObamaCare has made this situation worse as well.

Another tort reform measure Texas did a few years ago was to implement a losers pay system where if someone files a lawsuit and doesn’t win, they pay the legal fees of the other party. If there’s no consequence for such abuse, it won’t stop. In Texas the frivolous lawsuit abuse problem’s all but gone now.

If the same system Texas uses were to be done nationally, we would see the same results, and America would be a better place because of it.