It is time to discuss Tort Reform, this issue to me is the one of the most glaring problems in the health care debate because it is the easiest to fix! If I woke up and had a missing leg after a routine breast augmentation I would be very angry. However, I make mistakes all the time and if I was in danger of being sued with every typo for instance I would simply not write or write less. I understand that everyone makes mistakes and to try to sue for an unfair amount (which juries seem to always give) is simply ridiculous.
These juries have no idea of the damage they cause with every multi-million dollar settlement. Now in the case of a doctor being drunk or otherwise intoxicated that can be viewed as malicious otherwise these cases need to have a maximum period. The average American makes around 40k per year but if that same American has a wart surgery where he wakes up and finds out that they amputated his legs there is no reason he should get to become rich. He wasn’t rich before and its not like he can’t earn a living with no legs.
If this were the case why wouldn’t the American government give multi million dollar settlements to soldiers who come back with a missing appendage?
I can ‘t really explain how ridiculous these judgements can be and my only thought is that as the dollar collapses during the health care debate one of the contributing factors is certainly the legal profession. Most of these cases only help the lawyers.
In a piece for the New York Times, Philip K. Howard, Common Good’s founder and chair, provided this argument for health courts:
America needs special health courts aimed not at stopping lawsuits but at delivering fair and reliable decisions. A special court would provide expedited proceedings with knowledgeable staff that would work to settle claims quickly. Trials would be conducted before a judge who is advised by a neutral expert, with written rulings on standards of care.
With a special health court, damages would consist of all lost income and medical costs, plus “pain and suffering” based on a set schedule depending on the severity of the injury. All information about each incident, including details learned in settlements, would be compiled and disseminated so that doctors and hospitals could learn from their errors. Proponents of special health courts have estimated that the total cost of such a new liability system would be about the same as the existing system—less than 2 percent of America’s total health care costs. One benefit would be that the quicker, streamlined system would compensate far more people, with drastically lower legal costs. Most important, it would restore faith in the reliability of medical justice.
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