Mississippi Lawyer Blog

Now that the Republicans have gained control of the Mississippi House or Representatives, they are seeking more tort reform. They are doing this even though the doctors' own insurance company say they no longer need any more! Yes, you read that correctly. The CEO of the doctors' insurance company, Medical Assurance Company of Mississippi ("MACM") was quoted in a Clarion Ledger article as follows: "It would be hard for me to argue more tort reform is needed," Mike Houpt said. "We're content with what we have." Yet the Republicans want to lower the caps on damages AND institute a "loser pays" system which would make the loser of a lawsuit pay the other side's cost. Whose agenda are the Republicans pushing?

The "loser pays" idea is simple. Over the course of a lawsuit, each side spends money on such things as depositions, expert witnesses, copying, etc. Costs can easily reach $10,000 in the most "simple" car wreck cases. "Loser pays" would require the "loser" of a lawsuit to pay the other winner's costs as well as their own. So who is this designed to hurt? To a huge company like State Farm, $10,000 is nothing. To the average Mississippian, $10,000 is more than most folks have in savings. There is not way the could afford to pay this which means they would not file a lawsuit for fear of having to pay this kind of money.

Now, keep in mind that the doctors are "content" with what they have. This is the same group who claimed they were being forced out of Mississippi just 10 years ago. Now things are going so well that the doctors are receiving refunds on their insurance premiums and their insurance company is making a huge profit. I wonder if the quality of health care in Mississippi is going up as well? Are the number of deaths and serious injuries due to medical negligence going down? Oh well, who really cares about that. As long as the doctors are making money and forcing us to wait an hour to see them on every visit then things are fine. But, I digress.

The Republican party is not looking out for Mississippi citizens. If they were, they would fight like hell to make sure that anyone who harms a child or an elderly person or who leaves a family without a mother or father (or both) would have to fully compensate that person or their family. Instead, they are looking out for big businesses and insurance companies. Always have, always will. If your child is harmed don't expect the Republicans to care because they will be supporting the people who harmed him/her.

Sound harsh? Well it's not. Tort reform does not protect us from so-called "frivolous lawsuits". Tort reform is designed to protect big business and insurance companies from legitimate lawsuits. "Frivolous lawsuits" scare no one. If any defendant can show me one "frivolous lawsuit" which has ever gone to trial, received a verdict, and then been affirmed on appeal I will have my partner eat his hat. Big business needs protection when their products or actions seriously injure, maim, or kill innocent people and the Republicans are paid handsomely to help them.

Continue reading "More Tort Reform for Mississippi personal injury and medical malpracitce lawsuits? Thank you sir may I have another?" »

In the late 1990's Mississippians were getting Fen Phen prescriptions left and right. The drug was hugely popular. Folks would car pool to their doctors to get these "miraculous" weight loss drugs. So-called "weight loss" clinics opened up all over the state and fen phen was being dispensed like Pez to second graders.

The problem for the most part is that the doctors dispensing these pills never bothered to advise clients of the dangers associated with these drugs like heart valve leakage and primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) which causes death. Most of the doctors never monitored their patients while they were on the Fen Phen combination to make sure that the drugs were not adversely affecting their health. As a result, many Mississippians and citizens across the country, began experiencing serious heart and lung problems which were associated with Fen Phen. Doctors who failed to properly administer the drugs were sued along with the drug manufacturer. Long standing Products Liability law allowed lawsuits against the entity responsible for pushing the product out to the consumers.

This same pattern repeated itself with other drugs like Propulsid and Rezulin and doctors were sued along with the drug manufacturers. Well, the doctors did not like this to say the least. Tort "Reform" was making its way to Mississippi and the suits against the doctors provided tort "reform" advocates all they needed. There were media reports that lawsuits against doctors in Mississippi were driving doctors out of the state! Malpractice insurance premiums were skyrocketing and it was all because of lawsuits! Dogs and cats were living together, mass hysteria!

With the white jacked doctors out in front, lawmakers passed several pieces of legislation which greatly curbed lawsuits against doctors. This occurred in 2002 and 2004. Since that time, there have been numerous lawsuits against drug companies for creating dangerous drugs but none against the doctors who push the drugs.

A recent article in the Clarion Ledger stated that Pill MIlls were a national epidemic. Prescription drug usage in Mississippi (and across the nation) is staggering. In July alone in Mississippi, there were 536,630 prescriptions for controlled substances filled for more than 31 million pills, according to the Mississippi Board of Pharmacy. Wow.

Continue reading "Did Tort "Reform" Contribute to the Pill Mill Epidemic in Mississippi?" »

On June 14, 2011 I attended oral argument at the Mississippi Supreme Court involving the constitutionality of Mississippi's cap on non-economic damages. The case was Learmonth v. Sears Roebuck Co. Non-economic damages are pain and suffering, worry, anxiety, etc. The cap is limited at $1 million. There is no cap on economic damages like medical bills, loss of wages, etc. Now, $1 million is a lot of money and it's hard to argue otherwise. However, some people who are injured do not have "economic damages" to recover so their only claim would be "non-economic damages".

For instance, let's consider a 30 year old lady who has given up her job and wants to stay home and raise her family. Suppose she suffers a horrific eye injury in a car accident which leaves her blind. She will not need future medical care and treatment and she has no lost future earnings. Her life expectancy is 77 years so she will have to live 47 years with no vision. Under our current law, her non-economic damages are capped at $1 million. What about a child who gets the same injury? What about a person who is retired?

Continue reading "Mississippi's Caps on Damages is good for who? Big Business and Insurance Companies" »

Coxwell & Associates and the Lanier Law Firm is announcing a wrongful death lawsuit filed today against University of Mississippi head football coach Houston Nutt, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the University of Mississippi and other defendants based on their respective roles in the 2010 death of student-athlete Bennie (Buster) Abram.

Mr. Abram, an Ole Miss junior and walk-on defensive back on the football team, collapsed and died on the first day of spring practice last year. According to the autopsy report, the 20-year-old's death on Feb. 19, 2010, was caused by complications from sickle cell trait with exertion and a contributing factor of cardiomegaly, an inflammation of the heart.

The lawsuit says coaches, trainers and athletic department officials at Ole Miss violated NCAA guidelines covering the intensity of spring practices, particularly for players with the sickle cell trait like Mr. Abram. The lawsuit also cites the NCAA for failing to implement adequate guidelines for off-season practices and for not sanctioning coaches who violate existing guidelines.

Also named as defendants are the university's board of trustees, Ole Miss athletic department medical director Dr. Jeffrey Dennis, strength and conditioning coach Don Decker, the UMAA Foundation (the Ole Miss athletic booster club), and Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford, Miss. The case is Bennie F. Abram Jr., et al. v. Houston Nutt, et al., No. 11-421-CIV, in the Circuit Court for the First Judicial District of Hinds County in Jackson, Miss.

Sickle cell trait appears in nearly 10 percent of the African-American population, and less commonly in all races. Believed to be the leading killer of Division I football players, the condition has been linked to at least nine deaths among college athletes since 2000.

Mr. Abram, a native of Southaven, Miss., fell unconscious and was treated on the practice field by athletic trainers before being taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital. According to doctors' reports, he went into cardiac arrest at the hospital and died six hours later.

"Buster's death is a tragedy that should have been prevented," says The Lanier Law Firm's Gene Egdorf, who represents the Abram family along with Merrida "Buddy" Coxwell and Charles R. "Chuck" Mullins of Coxwell & Associates, PLLC, in Jackson, Miss. "Every sickle cell expert in the world will tell you that the only way this trait can cause a student-athlete's death is when they are put through overly strenuous workouts like the one Bennie went through before he died. The negligence of the NCAA, coaches, trainers and staff combined with senseless off-season workout programs is a recipe for disaster. We will fight to change this cycle just like we did when we got the NCAA to change its rules to mandate sickle cell testing."

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against University of Ole Miss" »

Medical errors cause so many injuries each year. The number of people injured each year due to medical malpractice and hospital errors is approximately 1.3 million. This is more people injured than in almost any other type of accident. The number of people who die from medical malpractice is higher than those dying from cancer. The Insurance Industry and other big companies have been using the medical malpractice scare as a way to push what they call "tort reform." How many times have you heard the phrase, "all the doctors are leaving." Well, if all the doctors are leaving everywhere, where are they going, to Mars? The number of doctors has been increasing each year by about 2%. Doctors are leaving rural areas but not because of lawsuits. The doctors do not want to live in rural errors for many of the same reasons people are leaving rural areas. The flight away form rural areas in this country has been taking place for the last century and it is going to continue according to government studies.

We have all been bombarded with the ads and literature designed to make us believe doctors are boarding a space shuttle to Mars. I have a family full of medical professionals and they don't think twice about medical malpractice. They treat their patients with kindness and all the skill they possess. The statistics show that over 50% of the medical errors are caused by 5% of the medical people who continue to make mistakes and are not adequately trained or disciplined. There are around 350 million people in the U.S. There are around 1.3 million medical errors. Nation wide out of the 1.3 people injured only about 85,000 file a lawsuit. I have to confess that my math skill are not as good as they once were. What is the percentage if 85,000 out of 1.3 million file a lawsuit? Is that somewhere around 8%? Let me ask you this question? If your neighbor kept backing his car into your car and causing substantial damage, would you let him do it 8 times before you took action? Or would you expect him to fix it the first time he did it? If you bought a house and the roof fell in because it was not built according to Southern Building Codes, would you say, "well, okay, I will let it fall in 7 more times before I do anything."

I work as an attorney helping people who get seriously injured, defrauded, or charged with crimes. This is my career, passion, and life. I do not make any apologies. I don't cause the injury or pain people have or feel, I try to help them deal with it in the legal system. The legal system can only offer money damages. That is it. If the legal system could repair the injury, I don't know a single client who wouldn't rather have a new body, limb, or be without pain than have money. The law profession is not much different then medicine. Doctors take patients as they find them. With injuries, pain and disability. Lawyers take clients as they find them, with injuries, pain and legal problems. Neither profession creates the problems. Each profession "practices" to solve the client/patients problems. Both make their living and get paid for helping people. Lawyers are attacked each year by the Insurance Industry for getting paid helping people. The last time I looked everyone in life gets paid for what they do, even preachers.

Medical negligence and mistakes are a bad thing. People go to their medical provider for help. They don't expect more injuries. There are so many instances where a person went into a Hospital and the medical professional operated on the wrong body area! Think about that for a minute. Can you imagine any way that should be excusable? The famous actor James Woods recently filed a lawsuit over his brother's death at a hospital. The Hospital eventually apologized for their mistake and agreed to pay damages to the children of his brother. These children are now without their dad and provider. In another case that made the news a hospital paid for causing a young boy to lose his leg and suffer mental developmental delays due to their errors. And in Texas a woman experienced problems for ten years after a hysterectomy. Finally, she learned that the doctor had left a sponge in her body. Of course, rather than admit the error and help her, the doctor is fighting it "tooth and nail." I am sorry that people make mistakes. A serious mistake by a doctor is likely to cause serious injuries. That is why being careful, well trained, and monitored is so important. I like and appreciate my doctors. I respect the medical profession. But, if any person, including a doctor, makes a error that causes another person an injury, they must be responsible just like everyone else.

Merrida Coxwell practices law in through Mississippi. He is licensed in every Court in Mississippi, in D.C. and West Virginia. Coxwell & Associates is located in Jackson, Hinds County, but the attorneys regularly work in Madison and Rankin Counties. If you have a legal problem call for a free consultation. Put experience to work for you. The office number is 601-948-1600.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are not filed very often. A 2006 study at Harvard established that only 1 in 8 people who are injured by medical malpractice file a lawsuit. This same study concluded that 97% of the cases filed had merit. That means there was a real and genuine reason for filing the case. Medical malpractice cases are not flooding the legal system. There are not that many medical malpractice cases filed yet the insurance industry continuously blames injured people for problems in the medical or health care industry.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the Congressional Budget Office and Government Accountability have determined that the cost spent defending claims and compensating people injured by medical negligence only amounts to 0.3% of all health care costs. The Insurance Industry has repeatedly exaggerated and lied to the public about medical liability cases and claims. One of the constant claims being made is that doctors "are fleeing." If doctors are fleeing, where are they going? The numbers of doctors in this country is increasing faster than the population growth. If rural areas are losing doctors, it is because doctors do not want to live in rural areas. Studies show that nationwide populations are moving to the cities. The number of doctors has increased in every state in the Country.

The Insurance Industry also claims that lawsuits drive up insurance costs. However scientific studies have proven that there is no relationship between doctor's insurance premiums and claims. Insurance companies have raised doctor's premiums not because of malpractice claims but so they can make more money. The Insurance Industry has admitted that caps on damage claims will not cause doctor's insurance premiums to go down. If you are interested in additional information on this matter you can read more at www.justice.org/clips/Five Myths About Medical Nefligence.pdf.

Coxwell & Associates is a firm representing people who are seriously injured and who have been charged with criminal offenses. Attorneys in the firm are experienced in trial and take a personal interest in their clients' cases. Call for a free consultation. Work: 601-948-1600.

A medical malpractice civil action (lawsuit) is one where the person filing the action believes that the medical provider deviated from the "standard of care" and caused harm to someone. The standard of care means that the medical provider did something or did not do something that other medical providers would have done, and as a result of the act or omission a person was injured. It is no secret that I feel the Courthouses must be open to every person regardless of their status, amount of money, color, race, or any other factor. A plumber should have as much access to the Courthouse as the pilot. A housewife who does not work, but takes care of her kids should have the same access to the Court System as a doctor or corporation. If we start automatically limiting the right of people or making it more difficult for them to have access to the legal system, when does it stop. What happen when suddenly we wake up and we no longer have the right to seek justice in Court.

Medical malpractice actions are some of the hardest cases a lawyer can handle. I am going to tell you just like it is in these matters. Doctors enjoy an elevated status in our society. People accord them a higher degree of respect than is afforded to an ordinary person. Juries believe doctors more than they believe the average witness. Statistically, doctors win over 66 of the medical malpractice cases that are filed. It is very, very hard to find a doctor in this area who is willing to testify against another doctor. There is this code of silence. Doctors are also very hostile to the legal system and toward attorneys. The doctors charge attorneys outrageous amounts of money for depositions even when the depositions are for the doctor's own patients. I would be willing to bet that you could talk to ten (10) attorneys who are handling malpractice actions and they could give you concrete examples of cases where doctors hurt the cases of their own patients just because the doctors were hostile to the attorneys or legal system.

Let's get one thing straight. I am not hostile or "down on the medical establishment." My family is equally divided between the medical field and the legal field. In fact there may be more members who work in the medical field than legal. What I am against is affording anyone what amounts to super-extra protection in the legal system when that person, business, or corporation fails to follow the rules and as a result harms someone or a family. The Insurance Industry has used doctors for years, and are still using them, to push for changes in the legal system that benefits the Insurance Industry. There was a wonderfully informative article written by a doctor and I am attaching the link for as long as the link lasts. In summary the doctor says that civil actions help protect patients from doctors who perform badly and there is really no other way to adequately protect the public. (http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/10/27/malpractice_reform/)

I don't care if you are a doctor, a lawyer, a billionaire, a carpenter, or any other job or profession. Every person should be treated equally in the legal system. Otherwise, what kind of country do we have. In Mississippi doctors have been given super protection. Cases against them are nearly impossible now. These bad laws don't stop frivolous lawsuits; they stop the real lawsuits where people are harmed by bad medicine. Well, if that's what people want, that is what they will get. I hope I can get a law passed protecting me from my mistakes. I encourage you to go to your Legislator and ask to get a special bill passed protecting you from your errors. (See how fast he laughs). Then no one will be responsible for anything. We won't have to follow any rules of any kind and no Will have no consequences. Does that sound good? Incidentally, my office represents medical professionals when they get in trouble with the law. You know what? They want all of their legal rights then. And they should have them; just like the general public should be entitled to their legal rights if someone is injured by a medical error.

Before I end let me say this about the term frivolous lawsuits. There aren't that many. I not going to tell you that at some point in time in this country of 300 million plus someone does not file a frivolous lawsuit. I am also not going to tell you that people don't run red light; that corporations don't produce bad drugs that hurt people; that banks and finance companies don't charge too much interest because it happens. But I can tell you that no attorney "worth his salt" is going to file a frivolous lawsuit because it costs money! Think about this the next time you are asked to give up your rights or the future of the rights of your family. The ads and information you have been hearing on frivolous lawsuits are lies, plain and simple. If you ever want to talk about it my office is open to you.

The State of Rhode Island has fined the largest hospital in the state after there was another medical error. For the fifth time since 2007 surgeons at the hospital operated on the wrong area of a person's body. How does something like this happen? If you go into the hospital for surgery on your right shoulder, how could a mistake happen and the doctor operate on the left shoulder. At the Providence Hospital this happened five times. Unbelievable!

We hear a lot about tort reform these days. Tort reform is the work of big business. They want to take away the right of people to fair and reasonable compensation for their injuries when they are harmed by a corporation. I encourage you to Google medical errors and you will see that medical errors and hospital infections kill thousands every year. When a medical professional continues to harm patients, why should that medical provider be given protection from their mistakes. There is something fundamentally wrong with a hospital when it has five (5) incorrect surgeries.

At Coxwell & Associates we believe that each person should have free access to the Amerian Legal System. One class of people should not be given special protection over another. Frivolous lawsuits should be discouraged, but when a case has real merit the injured person should not be denied the Court system. The attorneys at Coxwell & Associates represent people who get seriously injured in accidents. For a free consultation call 601-948-1600.

Charles R. "Chuck" Mullins, a partner at Coxwell & Associates, represents people who have been injured in accidents, including medical negligence cases in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi and all over the state. Recently, a Sargent, Texas man received a $4 million verdict from a Fort Bend, Texas jury last week from a medical malpractice case.

The verdict of $4,044,051.11 is believed to be the second-largest medical malpractice verdict returned in Fort Bend County history. The case was heard in the 400th District Court, presided by Judge Clifford J. Vacek. Orton, a Matagorda County deputy constable, filed the medical malpractice case against Dr. Guillermo Ponce de Leon, who performed a small bowel resection in August 2003 at Sugar Land Surgical Hospital. "Almost immediately, Orton became ill and went immediately back into surgery,". After being discharged 10 days later, Orton experienced a long period of repeated hospitalizations, abscesses and infections, which the jury concluded Dr. Ponce de Leon "inaccurately attributed to Orton's Crohn's Disease," the release said.

Orton's internist, Dr. Barry Liberoni, arranged for Orton's transfer to the care of two doctors in New York, Dr. David Sachar and Dr. Adrian Greenstein. Liberoni testified that Sachar diagnosed what he believed to be the source of Orton's continuing illness, which was an ongoing infectious process related to a leak. He gave Liberoni this information. Greenstein's surgery was successful, but Orton suffers today from "complications from having had much of his small bowel removed," the press release said. Orton, now 41, said in an e-mail to the Herald that he appreciated the jury and Vacek and his staff. He said he was "overwhelmed and greatly appreciative of the jury's verdict," and said, "No amount of money can replace the months and years of pain and frustration I have gone through and will continue to experience, but I am relieved that this situation has been resolved, and that the courts have recognized everything I went through and responded very clearly."

Daschle: Tort retorm necessary in health care bill

Chuck Mullins, a partner at Coxwell and Associates located in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi has handled medical malpractice cases, nursing home abuse cases and other cases involving negligent medical care. Recently, Former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle proclaimed that more tort reform is needed in order to keeps medical malpractice costs down. Mr. Daschle says doctors are ordering more tests on patients and running up the cost of medical bills just to make sure that they don't get sued. How is this bad if doctors are taking extra steps to make sure you and your family members are healthy? Perhaps Mr. Daschle needs to study recent reports that show in each of the years 2000, 2001, and 2002 there were 195,000 hospital deaths due to potentially preventable medical errors. Perhaps if additional tests had been ordered then these people would have lived. Another study showed that 98,000 people die each year due to medical errors and that it should be considered a national epidemic.

Given these studies, why can't we do more to protect those who have suffered from medical negligence instead of protecting those who have committed medical negligence? If you or your loved one have suffered a serious personal injury due to medical negligence or medical malpractice, call Chuck Mullins at Coxwell and Associates. Here is the story:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Sen. Tom Daschle says controlling the cost of malpractice insurance will have to be a part of the Obama administration's overhaul of the health care system.
The onetime Democratic leader in the Senate said he believes "tort reform is going to be on the table," and that it's important that all "stakeholders" in the looming debate be given a chance to be heard.
Daschle also said in an interview Monday on CBS's "The Early Show" that he thinks a significant portion of an estimated $76 billion in unnecessary annual health care costs can be attributed to doctors ordering extra tests and taking extra precautions to make sure "they aren't sued."
Daschle was President Barack Obama's first choice for secretary of health and human services, but withdrew his name in a controversy over his personal finances.

In the history of American society, one of the greatest hoaxes ever imposed on its people is the professed "medical malpractice crisis." Insurance companies have masterminded a way in which to scare almost everyone. Mississippi residents were told over and over again that the cost doctors are paying for medical malpractice insurance was so high that before long most doctors would be "driven out of our state" and "forced to flee."

Tort reform portrayed the system as one about to crack at the seams, when in fact the cost of medical practice payouts in relation to the health care budget in the United States is 2%. Yet the Insurance Industry used this issue to scare people that they were about to lose their local doctor. The Insurance Industry used this issue to inflame the fears of people when the real fear never existed.

Though insurance companies talk about the frivolous claim, what they actually want to do is harm the good claims. With damage limits, life is made substantially worthless for housewives, children, and retired citizens. One may recover the limit provided by law, but after paying other doctors for their expert opinions and all other expenses associated with trying a medical malpractice case, there is simply nothing left for the injured party.

Insurance companies continue to help themselves to a non-capped profit while the American consumer has been left with little choice but to accept whatever the law provides.

As the bestselling author Gerry Spence has asked numerous times, "Who pays more for insurance per dollar earned - you for your health insurance or your doctor for his malpractice insurance?"

Decide that one for yourself.

I'm sure everyone has heard of "frivolous lawsuits" and how they are to blame for rising insurance costs, driving doctors away, and the decline of Western Civilization as we know it today. The truth of the matter is certain politicians have created the fear that there are "runaway juries" which will destroy America unless there is so-called "tort reform"! Why do they want to do this? Easy. Big Insurance and Big Business lined the pockets of these politicians to push their agendas. Big Insurance and Big Businesses do not want to be held accountable for their actions. They want to be protected. Below we have listed some of the popular "Myths" in the justice systems along with the actual "Facts". You read and decide for yourselves.

1. MYTH: Frivolous lawsuits are flooding our legal system.

FACT: Frivolous lawsuits do not exist as represented by tort reformers.
A May 2006 study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women''s Hospital shows that 97 percent of medical malpractice claims are meritorious . Eighty percent of those claims involved physical injury, which killed or permanently disabled the victim. Sadly, only 56 of these claimants received compensation for their losses.

FACT: The number of lawsuits has significantly decreased in recent years. Between 2002 and 2003, the number of tort cases filed on the federal level decreased by 28 percent, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. In 2005, the Justice Department reported that the number of federal cases has decreased by 79 percent since 1985.
Between 1992 and 2001, the number of civil trials filed in state courts decreased by 47 percent, according to the Department of Justice. The number of tort cases specifically, decreased by 31.8 percent during that same time.

FACT: Businesses, not consumers, are far more likely to file frivolous lawsuits. Businesses and their attorneys are far more likely to file frivolous claims than the average American. In a recent study, 69 of the 100 most recent sanctions due to cases of frivolous lawsuits were against businesses and their attorneys. US businesses file four times as many lawsuits than private citizens.

2. MYTH: Plaintiffs are being awarded outrageous and unwarranted sums of money for their losses.

FACT: The amount of compensation awarded in personal injury cases is in decline. The amount of compensation awarded to victims, who have been seriously injured through no fault of their own, has drastically decreased over the past few years, according to the Department of Justice. Between 1992 and 2001 the average personal injury award decreased by 56.3 percent.

FACT: The payout in medical malpractice cases has decreased over the last four years.

A 2005 Public Citizen study revealed that medical malpractice payments to victims fell nearly 14 percent between 2001 and 2004. In 2001, juries voted against injured victims in three of four medical malpractice trials, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

3. MYTH: Capping damages lowers medical malpractice insurance premiums for doctors.

FACT: Tort reform caps result in savings for insurance companies NOT doctors. Capping damages does NOT translate into savings for doctors who continue to pay exorbitant medical malpractice insurance premiums. According to an independent research organization, "most insurers continued to increase [doctor''s] premiums at a rapid pace, regardless of caps" or reductions in plaintiff''s awards (Weiss Ratings 6/3/03).

In states with tort reform caps on damages, the average insurance premiums are nearly ten percent higher than the average in states without caps (The Medical Liability Monitor, 2004). Take it from the insurance industry, "Insurers never promised that tort reform would achieve specific savings [on insurance premiums]" - the American Insurance Association. Medical malpractice insurance costs are cyclical. Litigation does not drive the cycle. Therefore, doing away with fair compensation for victims will NOT help American citizen AND it will do nothing to help doctors who pay high insurance costs.

4. MYTH: The tort system places a $300 billion burden on the economy.

FACT: There is no such thing as a tort-tax. The figure in the myth above comes from the insurance industry, which has a vested interest in propagating tort reform myths. In this so-called cost assessment, Tillinghast-Towers Perrin included insurance company costs, overhead, and the salaries of the insurance industry's CEOs. For example, the salary of AIG's chairman--a whopping $29 million a year--was figured into this supposed cost of the tort system. The TTP assessment didn't include relevant data, which makes their figure more a reflection of the cost of the insurance industry rather than the cost of the tort system.
The idea of a "tort tax" dates back to 1988, when one man coined the term and quantified this so-called tax in a book called Liability. Several researchers immediately examined this man''s methods of determining this tax. They found that he had made it up. "The $300 billion figure has no discernable connection to reality," observed The Economist.
The Congressional Budget Office has repudiated the so-called tort tax.

5. MYTH: Medical malpractice claims run up the cost of healthcare.

FACT: Medical malpractice claims have a negligible effect on US health costs. According to the Congressional Budget Office in January 2004, medical malpractice costs constituted only two percent of the total cost of healthcare in the United States. Other figures from Public Citizen show that malpractice costs represent only 0.62 percent of the nation's expenditures for health care.
In 2003, the top HMOs in the United States reported doubling their profits, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal.

6. MTYH: Lawsuits are filed at the slightest provocation.

FACT: Many people who are seriously injured never file a claim.
Of the hundreds of thousands of people who are harmed by medical malpractice annually, only one in eight ever file a claim, according to a Harvard Study. Of the thousands of people injured by consumer products each year, only ten percent file a claim to seek compensation for their losses and suffering, according to a study by the Rand Institute for Civil Defense.

7. MYTH: Doctors are forced to practice "defensive medicine" for fear of medical malpractice lawsuits.

FACT: No evidence indicates that doctors practice "defensive medicine" as a response to lawsuit threats. Defensive medicine, or extra medical tests given to avoid lawsuits, is a concept developed by a member of the Bush Administration. Every independent researcher who has tried to replicate this man's findings has been unable to do so, indicating that his findings were entirely fabricated (Public Citizen).

8. MYTH: Lawsuits threaten to drive doctors out of practice and bankrupt small businesses and factories.

FACT: Most lawsuits are not even filed against doctors or companies.
Most lawsuits involve complaints by one private citizen against another. Only 39 percent of tort lawsuits involve an individual filing a claim against a business (The Department of Justice). A lawsuit cannot destroy a business unless that business generates a profit based on fraudulent or unsafe practices (Public Citizen).

FACT: The number of lawsuits against doctors is decreasing while the number of practicing physicians is increasing. Evidence shows that the number of lawsuits filed against doctors has declined in recent years, while the number of practicing physicians has increased. According to the American Medical Association, the number of US doctors has increased by 40 percent since 1990. Additionally, since 1990, the number of ER doctors has doubled, the number of neurosurgeons has increased by 20 percent, and the number of OB/GYN doctors has increased by 25 percent. There is not one shred of evidence to suggest that medical malpractice claims are forcing doctors to close their doors. While some doctors have suffered due to high insurance premiums, we know these costs have nothing to do with lawsuits and are purely the product of a rapacious insurance industry.

9. MYTH: Punitive damages are awarded to often and for too much money.

FACT: Punitive damages are rarely rewarded in civil suits. Punitive damages are only awarded in 3.3 percent of all tort trials won by the victim, according to the Department of Justice). Punitive damages are intended to punish the defendant in cases of blatant or malicious wrongdoing and prevent others from committing similar acts in the future. Given the statistics, it would seem that punitive damages are very conservatively awarded to the victims of egregious acts.

OTHER FACTS

· In 1995, the tobacco industry funded half the American Tort Reform Association's budget - $5.5 million a year. The money trail of many tort reform advocacy groups is traced to big tobacco, the pharmaceutical industry, large corporate donors, auto manufacturers, and medical associations.

· Less than 6 percent of the nation's doctors are responsible for over 57 percent of the payouts in medical malpractice lawsuits. (Public Citizen 4/2005)

· Of all the personal injury claims filed, only five percent are medical malpractice claims and another five percent are product liability claims. A big percentage of personal injury claims are filed by one citizen against another in a vehicle accident claim.

· Victims bear the lion's share of medical malpractice costs--including lost lives, additional medical expenses, time out of work, pain and suffering, and more.

Chuck Mullins represents clients in Mississippi who have been seriously injured in car accidents, truck accidents, wrongful death, and other serious personal injury cases. Contact Chuck Mullins today if you or a loved one has been seriously injured.