Lawyers say it’s at consumers’ expense

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry and those who championed legislation in 2003 that placed limits on the amount of money juries can award plaintiffs said a study released Monday shows they improved the economy and Texans’ access to health care.

Other groups said the reforms have served only to help big business hide from accountability when they harm individuals.

The study by the Pacific Research Institute ranked Texas No. 1 among the 50 states for tort reform.

“(The report) is the best evidence yet that lawsuit reform in Texas is improving health care, it’s pro-tecting jobs and it is strengthening our economy,” Perry said.

Perry said placing limits on lawsuits has contributed to the 580,000 new jobs added in Texas in the last three years. And it’s helped families, which pay an average of $2,600 a year extra in higher prices as a result of lawsuits, he said.

The Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast remain known nationally as “judicial hell holes” for doctors fac-ing lawsuits because juries still give enormous rewards to plaintiffs, said Lawrence J. McQuillan, author of the study by the Pacific Research Institute.

Even in those areas, specialists have begun to return to improve access to health care, Perry said.

“We still have areas in this state known as judicial hell holes, where verdicts defy explanation and they threaten the job climate,” Perry said. “So there’s always room for improvement.”

Texas Watch, a non-profit group that fought against the limits in 2003, said the study is further evi-dence that the reforms have benefited big business more than consumers. Pacific Research Institute is funded in part by oil, tobacco and drug companies.

“Given that well-heeled lobbyists for insurance and corporate interests have had their way with Texas legislators for the last twenty years, passing defendant friendly civil justice laws at the expense of Texas families, it is no surprise that a special interest outfit like the Pacific Research Institute would hail the results,” said Alex Winslow, Executive Director of Texas Watch.

The study should be a “wake-up call” to Texans that the civil justice system is stacked against them, said Marc R. Stanley, president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.

“Unfortunately, Texas families are learning this difficult lesson when they try to hold insurance com-panies and the defendants they represent accountable in court,” he said in a statement.

epierson@link.freedom.com

Study finds Texas best in tort reform PRI in the News By: Elizabeth Pierson 5.16.2006