There's no profit for most in limiting lawsuits

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

BY MATTHEW S. CROSBY

What's wrong with corporate America?

They told us Pintos were safe, but Ford knew they would blow up and kill people.

They told us Vioxx was a wonder drug, but Merck knew it caused heart attacks and strokes.

They had doctors in TV ads tell us cigarettes were "good for you," but the tobacco industry knew they were poison.

Time and again, lawsuits have played a vital role in protecting America's families by exposing dangers to the public.

So why does big business keep saying lawsuits are bad for America? Because, over the past 30 years, it has become painfully clear to the Fortune 500 and their battalions of high-paid lawyers that they are facing longer odds in courts of law. So, they have taken their case to a new venue: the court of public opinion.

Tobacco, chemical, oil, drug and insurance companies -- all serial defendants in major negligence lawsuits -- are using high-powered public relations firms to turn the public against the jury system and push an aggressive anti-accountability agenda disguised as "tort reform."

Through corporate-funded, patriotic-sounding think tanks like the Institute for Legal Reform, and phony "grassroots" organizations like the American Tort Reform Association and Common Good, the anti-accountability lobby spends millions annually to deflect and divert attention away from their irresponsible conduct. They have skillfully hidden behind the white coats of doctors and led the public to believe that "tort reform" is about preserving access to health care. THE U.S. CHAMBER of Commerce has willingly joined forces with these polluters, corporate defrauders and companies that knowingly put dangerous products on the market and purveyors of injury and death. Its propaganda arm, the Institute for Legal Reform, recently spent $10 million on misleading ads using phony studies and statistics produced by the insurance industry -- the business that has the most to gain by doing away with lawsuits.

In the halls of power in Harrisburg and Washington, the anti-accountability lobby continues to wave the banner of tort reform. They attempt to deflect attention from their own wrongdoing by citing bogus statistics and anecdotes from their own bought-and-paid-for "studies."

They trot out the same old tired rhetoric about how lawsuits are hurting doctors, and hospitals and patients, as well as scaring small business owners to death and making it harder for America to compete in a global economy.

But they don't talk about the 100,000 patients who die every year in U.S. hospitals or the 169,000 medical errors -- nearly 6,800 of which were serious, fatal or life-threatening -- reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority last year. They don't talk about the $3.5 billion spent in unnecessary health care costs because of hospital-acquired infections in Pennsylvania. They don't cite statistics showing malpractice lawsuits in the state are down nearly 40 percent since 2002.

They don't talk about a recent survey by the National Association of Manufacturers, which found lawsuits ranked at the bottom of manufacturers' list of concerns. They never mention that a study by professors from Harvard and the University of Texas, which looked at of 3,300 business bankruptcies across the country and found only three that that involved a personal-injury litigation.

They don't talk about the record profits being posted in recent years by the nation's property/casualty insurance companies -- the same ones that provide liability coverage to health care providers and businesses.

And they definitely don't talk about a new Associated Press report showing half the nation's top 500 CEOs make more than $8.3 million a year, and many make a lot more than that -- like Lou Camilleri, CEO of tobacco giant Altria Group, who raked in $46 million over the past five years. To put that into perspective: The proposed $250,000 cap on non-economic damages for injured people being pushed by corporate special interests wouldn't even cover about a week's pay for Camilleri.

So when the anti-accountability lobby tries to sell its message of a jury system run amok, the public, media and our elected representatives would be well advised not to buy it. For most of us, there's no profit in it.

MATTHEW S. CROSBY is a Harrisburg attorney.



AS I SEE IT There's no profit for most in limiting lawsuits Tuesday, June 19, 2007 BY MATTHEW S. CROSBY What's wrong with corporate America? They told us Pintos were safe, but Ford knew they would blow up and kill people. They told us Vioxx was a wonder drug, but Merck knew it caused heart attacks and strokes. They had doctors in TV ads tell us cigarettes were "good for you," but the tobacco industry knew they were poison. Time and again, lawsuits have played a vital role in protecting America's families by exposing dangers to the public. So why does big business keep saying lawsuits are bad for America? Because, over the past 30 years, it has become painfully clear to the Fortune 500 and their battalions of high-paid lawyers that they are facing longer odds in courts of law. So, they have taken their case to a new venue: the court of public opinion. Tobacco, chemical, oil, drug and insurance companies -- all serial defendants in major negligence lawsuits -- are using high-powered public relations firms to turn the public against the jury system and push an aggressive anti-accountability agenda disguised as "tort reform." Through corporate-funded, patriotic-sounding think tanks like the Institute for Legal Reform, and phony "grassroots" organizations like the American Tort Reform Association and Common Good, the anti-accountability lobby spends millions annually to deflect and divert attention away from their irresponsible conduct. They have skillfully hidden behind the white coats of doctors and led the public to believe that "tort reform" is about preserving access to health care. THE U.S. CHAMBER of Commerce has willingly joined forces with these polluters, corporate defrauders and companies that knowingly put dangerous products on the market and purveyors of injury and death. Its propaganda arm, the Institute for Legal Reform, recently spent $10 million on misleading ads using phony studies and statistics produced by the insurance industry -- the business that has the most to gain by doing away with lawsuits. In the halls of power in Harrisburg and Washington, the anti-accountability lobby continues to wave the banner of tort reform. They attempt to deflect attention from their own wrongdoing by citing bogus statistics and anecdotes from their own bought-and-paid-for "studies." They trot out the same old tired rhetoric about how lawsuits are hurting doctors, and hospitals and patients, as well as scaring small business owners to death and making it harder for America to compete in a global economy. But they don't talk about the 100,000 patients who die every year in U.S. hospitals or the 169,000 medical errors -- nearly 6,800 of which were serious, fatal or life-threatening -- reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority last year. They don't talk about the $3.5 billion spent in unnecessary health care costs because of hospital-acquired infections in Pennsylvania. They don't cite statistics showing malpractice lawsuits in the state are down nearly 40 percent since 2002. They don't talk about a recent survey by the National Association of Manufacturers, which found lawsuits ranked at the bottom of manufacturers' list of concerns. They never mention that a study by professors from Harvard and the University of Texas, which looked at of 3,300 business bankruptcies across the country and found only three that that involved a personal-injury litigation. They don't talk about the record profits being posted in recent years by the nation's property/casualty insurance companies -- the same ones that provide liability coverage to health care providers and businesses. And they definitely don't talk about a new Associated Press report showing half the nation's top 500 CEOs make more than $8.3 million a year, and many make a lot more than that -- like Lou Camilleri, CEO of tobacco giant Altria Group, who raked in $46 million over the past five years. To put that into perspective: The proposed $250,000 cap on non-economic damages for injured people being pushed by corporate special interests wouldn't even cover about a week's pay for Camilleri. So when the anti-accountability lobby tries to sell its message of a jury system run amok, the public, media and our elected representatives would be well advised not to buy it. For most of us, there's no profit in it. MATTHEW S. CROSBY is a Harrisburg attorney. ©2007 The Patriot-News © 2007 PennLive.com All Rights Reserved.