|
|
Press |
|
|
|
Thick skins; Tort system is tanning our hides
PRI in the News
4.1.2007
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK), April 1, 2007
SECTION: OPINION; OUR VIEWS; Pg. 14A The state's $7 billion budget sailed through the Legislature at a record clip - until it was clipped by the poison pen of Gov. Brad Henry. We wish reform of the tort system, which costs Americans $7 billion every three days, would get such enthusiastic attention. How costly is the tort system? Why does it need reform? Read this summary of the system's effects: "Although many excellent studies have been conducted, no single work has fully captured the true total costs ... of excessive litigation. The good news: We now have some reliable figures. The bad news: The costs are far higher than anyone imagined." Those are the words of Lawrence J. McQuillan and Hovannes Abramyan of the Pacific Research Institute and authors of "Jackpot Justice: The True Cost of America's Tort System." The "reliable figures" cited by McQuillan and Abramyan say the tort system imposes a cost on the U.S. economy of $865 billion per year, for an annual "tort tax" of $9,827 for a family of four. If the phrase "jackpot justice" is familiar, you may recall a 2003 Wall Street Journal editorial that called Oklahoma "a state that just can't say no to jackpot justice." There's no "good news, bad news" in that kind of publicity in a newspaper read by thousands of business leaders. It's all bad news. The tort system in this country has become a wealth transfer scheme, taking money from doctors, entrepreneurs and consumers and giving it to a relatively few trial lawyers. Tort reform isn't an attempt to deprive victims of their day in court or their monetary due. It's an attempt to restore balance to the legal system. The transfer scheme has become so obvious that plaintiff's attorneys avoid the term "trial lawyers." The American Trial Lawyers Association now goes by the name of the American Association for Justice. A Tulsa anti-reform group chartered by trial lawyers calls itself the Oklahoma Center for Consumer and Patient Safety. Where's the concern for consumers in a system that hits up the economy for $2.4 billion every single day to sustain itself? Or in the more than 51,000 jobs lost due to asbestos-related bankruptcies alone? Where's the concern for patients in a system that runs up a tab of $124 billion a year for "defensive" medicine? The only concern trial lawyers have is for the thickness of their wallets. This must stop, but the Legislature and Congress have been reluctant to do so, fearing the loss of campaign donations. Tort reform isn't dead for the year in the Legislature, but it's not particularly robust. Chasing the proverbial ambulance remains a lucrative pursuit. We all pay the bill.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
