Changing your mind?

[paullud]

Is there anything that is important to the country politically that you changed your mind about? I recently just flip flopped on Tort Reform when I realized it is just another right that has been tampered with. The idea of jackpot judgements was sold to the American public by the US Chamber of Commerce which is a group of big businesses that were protecting themselves. Remember the careless old lady that was driving down the road with coffee between her legs which ended with her getting burned and a $1 million lawsuit. That was McDonald's doing a great job with PR and playing the victim of some money hungry grandma. Apparently she was the passenger in a parked car when she tried to lift the flap of the lid up to add creamer and sugar but the design of the lid caused the whole thing to come off. The coffee spilled onto her legs causing 3rd degree burns which required skin grafts to fix. McDonald's had their coffee way to hot and worst of all they knew about it as they had over 700 formal complaints of burns plus who knows how many that just stayed at a store level. All that lady wanted was for McDonald's to pay her medical bills and make the needed adjustments to keep others from getting burned. They refused to so she used her right to fight a huge corporation and won. The bulk of the judgement was for punitive damages but you have to keep in mind $10k isn't going to punish a corporation like McDonald's.

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[layoutshooter]

There are still lots of very frivolous law suits. Like when a manufacturer is sued when their product is used to commit a crime etc.

One of the easiest ways to come up with a form of tort reform that would not interfere with legit suits would be to require those who file frivolous suits to pay all the expenses for those they filed against.

ALL manufacturers should be exempt from suits when their products are used for criminal activity, in a manner that there were not intended to be used for, in a reckless manner etc.

 

[paullud]

There should definitely have to be a direct link between the plaintiff and defendant or if the 3rd party was involved in an illegal act.

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[cheri1122]

Anyone who looks further than the screaming headlines knows that the "Stella" [hot coffee] case is a prime example of how corporate interests use PR to spin the story and blame the victim.
Another proponent of tort reform are the big insurance companies, who engaged in rate wars to 'increase market share' after the best [medical] prospects were taken. They invested the new premiums poorly, so when the malpractice claims began piling up [surprise!] they began a media campaign against 'big jury verdicts'. It's amazing how often the tactic of deflection works - or maybe not, with the media as a willing accomplice, because they can't afford to alienate potential advertisers.
It's getting hard to find the truth behind the headlines, but it can still be done, if you look. Anyone have any unbiased sites they like to check? Besides Snopes, I mean, lol.

 

[paullud]

The fact that they can cap malpractice claims is ridiculous, if a Dr screws up it can mean a lifetime of rehabilitation and numerous surgeries.

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[layoutshooter]

The fact that they can cap malpractice claims is ridiculous, if a Dr screws up it can mean a lifetime of rehabilitation and numerous surgeries.

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How many are using malpractice suits as a second retirement income?

I know that there is malpractice in medicine. I have seen it first hand. I also know that there are scammers out there. Shyster lawyers, who push suits that have no basis and people who seek them out.

Anyone who is hurt by a Dr, nurse etc should be taken care of, no doubt. There does have to be some sanity to it. This problem is a serious one and a contributor to why we are starting to see shortages in many medical specialties as well as an overall Dr shortage.