Joanne Doroshow of the Center For Justice and Democracy has this fabulous blog post today over at The Huffington Post.
Doroshow makes two good points. First, medical malpractice reform in Texas has been an abysmal failure – as it has been elsewhere.
Second, there are almost no frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits. A medical malpractice lawyer has to advance significant out-of-pocket costs to prosecute any medical malpractice case. In every medical malpractice case, he will have to pay for filing fees, depositions and, most costly of all, expert witness fees – the experts being, of course, doctors who command very high fees for their time. These costs run into the tens of thousands of dollars and, with an aggressive insurance defense bar out there, no lawyer in his right mind files frivolous cases.
I don’t think there is even a public perception that plaintiff’s lawyers file frivolous med mal lawsuits. Instead, I think there is a public perception that juries sometimes give outlandish rewards to the victims of medical malpractice and that must be stopped. Well, there are legal mechanisms in place, ones that have always been there and that are used quite frequently, that allow judges to throw out verdicts that are not in line with the actual harm suffered.
Instead of limiting the rights of victims of medical malpractice, health care reformers should focus on the truly large costs of health care: the costs associated with obesity and diabetes. If we could find better treatments for these diseases, the cost of health care could be cut by a third to one-half. And we wouldn’t be turning medical malpractice victims in victims twice: first in the operating room and then in the courtroom.

If you have been injured as a result of medical malpractice and require the services of a Boston medical malpractice attorney, call The Law Office of Alan H. Crede at (617)973-6434 to arrange a free consultation.