Sunday, December 15, 2013

Reforming How We Think About Tort Reform

As a general rule, in this blog we try and stay away from general political topics for a number of reasons—not the least of which is that we do not view this as an appropriate forum for espousing our political opinions (of which many Tom and I, ourselves, do not necessarily agree upon).  One political topic, however, that does directly impact the way we work and the people we represent, is tort reform. 

Over the next several months we will be writing in greater detail on the topic of tort reform—especially as it relates to medical malpractice and health care.  Our analysis of the topic will include a look at it from both a national and local perspective—including Kansas and Missouri.

The topic is of immense interest to me not only because of the impact on the work of our firm and the injured individuals we represent, but because there are so many misconceptions and so much misinformation about the topic.  And ultimately, this will be the goal of our blog posts on this topics—to expose the myths and misconceptions and set forth the facts (from sources spanning the legal and political spectrum) so that individuals can have the facts needed to make sound determinations on what to do with tort reform.

One of the great misconceptions concerning tort reform as it relates to medical malpractice and health care is the supposed devastating impact lawsuits have on the cost of health care.  This is certainly a misconception I had been under for much of my formative years and for many of the years I spent in practice representing health care providers in medical malpractice and other health care negligence claims.  The fact is, tort reform does not have a significant impact on the cost of health care.  A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”) concludes that limitations on the recovery available to victims of medical malpractice would reduce the cost of health care by .5%—one half of one percent.   The impact is not significant—especially when one considers the other impacts limitations have, which include the impact on the victims of medical malpractice and how such limitations impact the quality of the health care we receive.  We will address these and many other facets of this topic over the coming months. 

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