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Why we need tort reform in the us.

First of all, the link that brought this up.

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/25845.htm


Now, some of you might think this is a non-issue, or it just doesn't affect you right? Wrong.

Have you noticed your rising auto insurance, health ins., even home owners insurance is slated to go up 10% next year? This can be directly attributed to these frivolous lawsuits. Something even deeper to ponder on, those are just the immediate costs that you actually see.

Economics 101: When a business incurs a new or rising cost to do business the cost is generally passed on the end consumer. Thats right boys and girls, the end consumer is me, and its you. Take my job for an example. As most of you know, I am in construction management. We have our ins. costs built directly into our bids, and our CPA generates that cost (its actually a percentage of our labor costs) quarterly. So... in short, our insurance goes up, and then our price goes up.

This country is so sue happy, that when you try to fight a blatantly frivolous suit the judge asks "There are insurance companies involved, why haven’t you settled" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Recently in Alabama 80% of the states Dr.'s shut down there practices. There malpractice insurance was so high that they couldn't afford to be in business. Well why didn't they just raise their prices you ask? Well, the health insurance companies tell them what they will pay for different procedures, so they are S.O.L.

My friends, we need some serious tort reform in this country. I am not talking about just putting caps on liability. We need to make a person CRIMINALLY liable for a frivolous claim. Most of these people are broke anyway, so counter-suing for your court costs and time is a joke. These people should be thrown in jail. Above is a high school kid that is on his second law suite already. Take a good look folks, because until we have some sort of reform this is how that kid will make a living his entire life. Off of our insurance dollars.


I pay 15% of my GROSS income to various insurances.

In all likelihood my rates will increase the next time I renew, even though I have not made a claim on ANY of my policies.
 
Ugh. I heard about this kid. We need the judicial system, even without torte reform, to tell people that they get no money for being stupid. Shaking a vending machine to the point it falls on you? If that's not stupid, I don't know what is.

And Casper is 100% right about the doctors. OBGYNs are starting to close their doors around here. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be three hours from the nearest appropriate doctor with a wife who is 8 months pregnant.
 
top heavy LMAO! vending machine companies specifically build them BOTTOM heavy because they KNOW some idiots going to shake the machine. i moved some of these machines around when i worked as a janitor at a local school for some cash during a summer before college. they are EXTREAMLY heavy and it would take more than a gentle shake to tip them on top of the fact every single vending machine i have ever seen has a do not shake warning on the front incase some idiot gets the bright idea to shake one. toss the kid in prison for 6 months and see if he trys it again. i fully agree these lawsuits need to stop NOW!

Rattler
 
Just let it fall on him again. LOL
smile_n_32.gif
j/k



Jerry
 
I have said it once, and I will say it again.

Tort reform would be the biggest thing to save the avg. person and small businessman that most money. Forget the tax cuts, make these idiots with their frivolous lawsuits criminily responsible.
Throw harsher penalties at the people who commit insurance fraud.

You may think that this does not affect you, but remember, the insurance company is a business. As a business they will not pay out more than they take in. That is simply the way business works. So, the more they pay out, the more they charge YOU the end user.
 
I agree with you Casper. The legal system is the new lottery. The odds are way better than any lottery. I think the whole legal system needs to be changed. The laws are made by lawyers for lawyers. The frivolous lawsuits should be thrown out and like you said, the plaintiffs should be held responsible.
I have to disagree with you on the liability cap. If a doctor makes a negligent mistake he should have to pay for it. I'm speaking from experience. Last January I took my wife to the emergency room because she was having chest pains. She has an extensive family history of heart disease. Her uncle died at 34 of a heat attack, her mom had bypass surgery when she was in her thirties, I can go on about her family but you get the idea. They did a blood test, an EKG, and a chest X-ray. The blood test showed slight elevations of enzymes, and the EKG was abnormal, both are signs that a heart attack is about to happen. They told her it was a pulled muscle and sent her home with a pain killer. She got home and had a major heart attack. Her medical bills so far are almost $150,000. She has to see a doctor every 3 months for the rest of her life, she has to have a major surgery every 5 years for the rest of her life. She can't work and has now lost her medical insurance. There's no way that you can't tell me that the hospital shouldn't be responsible for that. I called the hospital and told tried to settle. I told them I wanted them to pay for her medical bills, lost work and to provide her with health insurance for the rest of her life. They would even talk to me. My wife has lost many years off her life, not to mention the quality of her life has decreased. She has college degrees that she paid for that she now can't use. When she was in the hospital the nurse told me that that hospital almost never admits women for heart attacks.
To top it all of the hospital sent me a bill (over $600)and expected me to pay it.  I called them and refused to pay it. They asked me why I was disputing the charges and I told them there was no way I was going to pay them for almost killing my wife. So they sent me another bill. I called them again and told them the same thing they said they would look into the case. I guess they looked into it and saw they were negligent because they never called me back, and I have not gotten anymore bills. The sad thing is that they only one that's gonna get rich in this case is the lawyer.
I agree with you, there has to be some change. If you set a cap on lawsuits that means that my wife will never get all her doctor bills paid, and we will be dependant on welfare because she now can't work. Either way you will have to pay for it. But not because I'm trying to get rich, because the doctors and hospitals and alot of other businesses refuse to accept the responsibility and pay when they are at fault. I asked the hospital to do the right thing and pay for her lost work, medical bills, and provide her with insurance. They choose to go the legal route and forced me to get a lawyer. Now they are not only going to pay for what I asked for but now they have to pay a lawyer. It looks like they are going to end up paying millions of dollars in this case. The only one that's gets rich is the lawyer.
 
Insurance companies pay CEOs millions of dollars a year, but are busy trying to con us into thinking it's fair to limit Ozzy & his wife to $250,000 for "pain & suffering". The system is broken, but don't break it further.
 
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