Editorial > Letters
YOUR OPINION
Published: Saturday, December 13, 2008 7:45 AM EST
12/13/2008
Accountability vital
Editor: Tort reformers like Lawrence McQuillan of the Pacific Research Institute (“More tort reform,” Dec. 3) want the American public to ignore the lessons learned from the recent avalanche of corporate failures — failures that have sent the American economy into a tailspin, failures that could have been prevented by oversight and accountability.
While Mr. McQuillan’s letter focused on medical malpractice litigation, it belied the broader agenda of the “tort reform” movement — allowing corporate wrongdoers to escape accountability in the courts by limiting the legal rights of injured people. Indeed, Mr. McQuillan’s organization is funded by big oil, drug companies and other corporate special interests.
In making the argument for limiting injured patients’ rights, Mr. McQuillan ignored a few inconvenient truths. For the past decade, the American Medical Association and other data sources have shown a steady increase in the number of doctors practicing in Pennsylvania. The number of lawsuits and the amount of damages paid to malpractice victims and their families have been cut in half since 2002. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority has documented an increasing number of serious and fatal medical errors that far outpaces litigation.
Limiting the rights of victims, whether they are harmed by a doctor’s scalpel or an oil tanker run aground, has never been shown as an effective means of reducing risk to the public. The lack of oversight in medicine and the failure of our government to regulate corporate greed and malfeasance have made our civil justice system the last bastion of recourse for the average consumer.
The American people have learned a painful and costly lesson from trusting big business, the insurance industry and think tank front-men like Mr. McQuillan. When profits mean more than the safety and financial security of our families, they simply can’t be trusted.
ATTORNEY DAVID I. FALLK
PRESIDENT, THE COMMITTEE FOR JUSTICE FOR ALL
KINGSTON
Accountability vital
Editor: Tort reformers like Lawrence McQuillan of the Pacific Research Institute (“More tort reform,” Dec. 3) want the American public to ignore the lessons learned from the recent avalanche of corporate failures — failures that have sent the American economy into a tailspin, failures that could have been prevented by oversight and accountability.
While Mr. McQuillan’s letter focused on medical malpractice litigation, it belied the broader agenda of the “tort reform” movement — allowing corporate wrongdoers to escape accountability in the courts by limiting the legal rights of injured people. Indeed, Mr. McQuillan’s organization is funded by big oil, drug companies and other corporate special interests.
In making the argument for limiting injured patients’ rights, Mr. McQuillan ignored a few inconvenient truths. For the past decade, the American Medical Association and other data sources have shown a steady increase in the number of doctors practicing in Pennsylvania. The number of lawsuits and the amount of damages paid to malpractice victims and their families have been cut in half since 2002. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority has documented an increasing number of serious and fatal medical errors that far outpaces litigation.
Limiting the rights of victims, whether they are harmed by a doctor’s scalpel or an oil tanker run aground, has never been shown as an effective means of reducing risk to the public. The lack of oversight in medicine and the failure of our government to regulate corporate greed and malfeasance have made our civil justice system the last bastion of recourse for the average consumer.
The American people have learned a painful and costly lesson from trusting big business, the insurance industry and think tank front-men like Mr. McQuillan. When profits mean more than the safety and financial security of our families, they simply can’t be trusted.
ATTORNEY DAVID I. FALLK
PRESIDENT, THE COMMITTEE FOR JUSTICE FOR ALL
KINGSTON
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