What is Tort reform?

[Emma]

Bush tried to get this simple reform done during his term, the democrat congress wanted no part of this as they are in the back pockets of the trail lawyer lobbyists.

He only had a 'democrat congress' for the last 2 of his 8 years.

 

[jillian]

It's a matter of fundamental fairness.

No...it's not. It has a chilling effect on people pursuing their rights. Just because someone loses a case doesn't mean it was frivolous ab initio.

 

[Karateka]

Tort reform is incredibly important - medical malpractice insurance (they actually call it "tail coverage" - no joke) is outrageous. Hospitals also have to insure themselves for absolutely INSANE amounts, all of which (of course) get passed to the insurance companies, and then to the patients. One of the first things that needs to happen is that judges need to be voted in and out of office, rather than appointed, and they need to be able to show their constituents what they have to show for a record. They DO have the power to dismiss frivolous lawsuits, but they don't want to screw their lawyer buddies out of making money, so they don't toss out the cases that should be tossed. And once again, WE pay.

I do believe it's time for a revolution.

 

[VaYank5150]

I see you too missed, or prefer to ignore this part:

Quote:
If you were to eliminate medical malpractice liability, even forgetting the negative consequences that would have for safety, accountability, and responsiveness, maybe we’d be talking about 1.5 percent of health care costs. So we’re not talking about real money. It’s small relative to the out-of-control cost of health care.

 

[GeanieT]

Tort Reform is NOT just for Class Action or Medical Malpractice,, etc. It is a ONE SIZE FITS ALL covering ALL Civil (non-criminal) cases.
Hi, I’m from Oklahoma. Our last Tort Reform o 2009, not only put some of the lowest caps on, but unless you have a class action suit, attorney fees are no longer recoverable from the losing side. And Tort Reform changes are a One Size Fits All, no deviation unless it’s a class action suit.
I currently have a suit against the City of Broken Arrow, who in their lame efforts to divert flood waters from 2 newly developed areas, diverted massive amounts of flood waters to our property/home and repeatedly flooded us for 4 yeas until they installed a real storm drainage system in Jan of this year.
Estimated cost of repairs is over $98,600. In June the City asked us to submit a pretrial settlement amount. We asked for the exact cost of the repairs. Our offer was rejected and the City stated their intent to take this to trail.
The only reason they are selecting to go to trial is due to attorney fees no longer being recoverable, in this type of case. So we cannot hope to obtain an attorney on a contingency basis, and since we don’t have the estimated $25,000 to go to trial just lying around, we cannot go to trial. This will result in our case being dismissed, the City will be able to slither away unscathed and we will be left paying a mortgage on a $150,000 home which recently appraised for $20,000. And btw, my husband and I are nearing 60 years old.
Tort Reform does not do as it was intended, or does it? It certainly does reduce costs to BIG BUSINESS, DOCTORS AND INSURANCE companies…. but it ties the hands of the hard working citizen who has a legitimate case.