Washington Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Regan Zambri & Long Law Firm : DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog

A recent two-year survey of Texas judges shows that runaway juries and frivolous lawsuits are mostly fictional events and that tort reform legislation isn't necessary.  To evaluate the nation's need for tort reform,  Baylor Law School researchers surveyed a broad sample of trial judges, whose unique position allows them to view the same evidence as jurors, yet remain non-partisan regarding trial outcomes.  Impartial observation of numerous trials over time also guards against the possibility that a judge would adopt broad generalizations based on individual, isolated verdicts.

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Other blogs and the media have given significant coverage, lately, to a study by Washington University researchers highlighting the emotional turmoil American doctors suffer when they injure a patient through negligence or malpractice.  The research is almost as interesting as the misplaced sympathies it seems to engender in media circles.  The Joint Commission published the report this month in their Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, implying that many safety shortcomings in our health system are systematic, and perhaps not the sole responsibility of the system’s most visible custodians and benefactors.  Policy pundits have echoed those sentiments.  While few would accuse physicians of being disaffected or unconcerned by the injuries they inadvertently inflict on patients, fewer still would argue that they aren’t in a position to effect change, or that their responsibility for the health of patients is applicable only for the duration of seven-minute clinical encounter.

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The profitability of selling medical malpractice insurance has skyrocketed in recent years, and consequently, most malpractice insurance companies have routinely "over-reserved" (set aside more profit) than is necessary.  These are among the findings of former Missouri Insurance Commissioner Jay Angoff, who recently analyzed the 2006 financial statements of the 15 largest medical malpractice insurance companies in the U.S., and issued a report entitled, "No Basis for High Insurance Rates:  An Analysis of the 15 Largest Medical Malpractice Insurers' 2006 Financial Statements."

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In an Op-Ed in the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper, Alabama Association for Justice President Bob Prince recently explained how the outcome of a $54 million suit against a metro dry cleaning business illustrates the strengths of the nation's legal system -- much to the chagrin of anti-consumer CEOs who peddle "tort reform."  The piece is reprinted below in its entirety.

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An important American Association for Justice poll reveals that voters are significantly worried about corporate malfeasance -- especially regarding the pharmaceutical industry -- and aren't likely to rally behind political candidates who advocate tort reform.  Less than a quarter of those polled believed that juries award too much money to victims of personal injury.

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Recently, a "lost pants" case became high profile because the plaintiff was an administrative law judge and the complaint was perceived as being outrageous.  As Richard Alderman, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of the Center for Consumer Law at the University of Houston Law Center, wrote in the Houston Chronicle, the justice system works to protect consumers who suffer injuries due to someone else's fault.  We have reproduced Mr. Alderman's article in its entirety below. 

For information about your legal rights, please click here or call
the law firm of Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at 202-463-3030.    

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For years now, proponents of medical malpractice "reform" have alleged that physicians, particularly ob-gyns, have been fleeing jurisdictions leaving more and more counties throughout the country without access to doctors.  In fact, in his 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush told the nation that there are "nearly 1,500 American counties without a single ob-gyn."  This statement, however, is simply wrong.

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For decades, "tort reform" groups have been desperately trying to strip American citizens of their ability and right to access the courts and obtain fair justice.  In pushing their agenda, they have relied on data-starved rhetoric and biased opinions in order to influence the public to serve their special interests.  Thankfully, unbiased consumer advocacy groups have challenged the rhetoric and, through comprehensive studies, have elicited the truth regarding the civil justice system.

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According to tortdeform.com, Senator Trent Lott is fighting for his rights as a consumer.  It appears his home was devastated by Hurrican Katrina and his insurance carrier, State Farm, will not pay him what he thinks he is owed for his losses.  Like many victims of the hurricane, Mr. Lott does not want to be victimized a second time by his insurance carrier.  He has reportedly hired a trial attorney to represent his interests against State Farm.

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On December 11, the Association of Trial Lawyers of American changed its name to the American Association for Justice.  Changing the name to the American Association for Justice is an important step in the campaign to protect and strengthen the civil justice system.

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According to a recent report, the United States Chamber of Commerce and its affiliated Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) failed to report millions of dollars in taxable spending over the past several years, spending intended to influence state and federal races around the country. In fact, Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), asking the IRS to investigate whether the U.S. Chamber and ILR melded funds in a shared bank account in an effort to hide accurate reporting of investment or interest income for tax avoidance.

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The national elections swept from office many Congressmen and Senators who have been extremely hostile to the legal rights of injured consumers.  While discussion of the war in Iraq dominated the media coverage of the elections, the tidal wave that swept Republicans from office coast to coast, represented a huge defeat for the US Chamber of Commerce and the big insurance companies who have waged a billion dollar campaign to eliminate the legal rights of the injured.

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In an effort to become elected in this November's mid-term elections, certain candidates are falsely attacking the civil justice system. In doing so, these candidates rely on innuendos and falsehoods in an effort to garner votes at the expense of the rights of everyday Americans.

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Despite what insurance companies want you to believe, there is no medical malpractice insurance crisis in this country. In fact, studies have proven that medical malpractice lawsuits have decreased throughout the country. So why are the doctors’ insurance premiums so high? Greed.

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This morning, October 31, the U. S. Supreme Court heard argument in a critical case which will determine whether tobacco companies can  be held accountable for punitive damages for egregious conduct in deceiving consumers for more than 50 years.  The plaintiff, Jesse Williams, believed the industry fraudulent propaganda that cigarette smoking does not cause cancer.  The case of  Philip Morris v. Williams has been touted as the most important business case in front of the most pro-business Supreme Court in years and has already been the subject of a news blitz.

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The Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association has asked the state insurance commissioner to examine the premiums charged by the Connecticut Medical Insurance Company.  It appears that the insurance firm is charging too much given its profits and reserves.  The insurance firm made $12.5 million in profit last year, up from $7.6 million in 2004.  Given these profits, and the size of its surplus, the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association feels that the insurer should reduce premiums as much as 10 percent.  The insurance commissioner is considering the request for a review, but no action has been taken yet. 

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According to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, attempts to modify existing laws at the state and federal level could all but end some people's right to assert a claim when they are injured by a defective product.

Here are some interesting statistics ATLA cites, with sources, that you don't hear from the manufacturers and insurance proponents who are pushing to limit the right of indivduals to bring these claims:

• "Products liability cases account for only 4 percent of all tort cases in state courts, according to the National Center for State Courts.
  
• Non-asbestos products liability cases in federal courts declined by 40 percent between 1985 and 1991, reports law professor Marc Galanter of the University of Wisconsin.
  
• The real increase in litigation these past few years has been in businesses suing each other over contracts, not consumers seeking redress through products liability. The Wall Street Journal has reported that businesses suing each other comprised nearly half of all federal cases filed between 1985 and 1991. These legal revisions would not limit the rights of business and industry, but only those belonging to individuals.
  
• Products liability awards are closely related to the severity of consumer injury, while punitive damages are rare and thus have little impact on the majority of businesses, according to a U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) study.
  
• The most comprehensive study ever of punitive damages in products liability cases found only 355 punitive awards between 1965 and 1990. The study, by law professor Michael Rustad of Suffolk University in Boston, found that in nearly 80 percent of those cases the manufacturer took some subsequent safety measure in the wake of punitive damages.
  
• A 1995 U.S. Department of Justice study analyzing civil jury cases in the nation's 75 most populous counties found that juries disposed of about 360 product liability cases during the 12-month study period. Plaintiffs won 41 percent of these case. Of the 142 winning cases, just three resulted in punitive damage awards. The total punitive damages awarded in these three cases was $40,000.
  
• Products liability insurance only costs American consumers 26 cents out of a purchase of $100, according to a 1995 report by the Consumer Federation of America. The study also found that products liability premiums dropped 45 percent between 1987 and 1993.
  
• The GAO has found that liability insurance costs large businesses about six-tenths of 1 percent of annual gross receipts and costs small businesses about 1 percent. The National Insurance Consumer Organization found that liability insurance premiums in 1991 accounted for only fourteen one-hundredths of 1 percent of product retail sales."

If these claims are only a small portion of the cases before courts, it seems a pretty reasonable price to pay for safety.

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