Re: Damage Cap Hits Some Hard
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Wed Jul 14 14:43:05 2004
One of the reasons that "Loser Pays" would be a favorable development.
art
At Wed, 14 Jul 2004, Charlie Chambers wrote:
>
>I love the contradictions impicit in the argument that attorneys are
>not taking on worthwhile cases because they are making less. On the
>other hand, the ATLA has always argued that they are trying to protect
>the "little guy". That malpractice litigation is meant to help the
>downtrodden and abused. BUT, only if they can make multimillions! Which
>one is it? I think we all know already.
>
>On Jul 14, 2004, at 8:35 AM, Gerald P. Rodríguez wrote:
>
>> I believe that the on-line Wall St. Journal is by subscription only.
>> My
>> print version of the WSJ yesterday (July 13) carried what is most
>> certainly
>> this same story on its "Personal Health" page, D-4. Headline reads
>> "Malpractice Cap Helps Out Doctors.'' The article cites a Rand Corp.
>> Institute of Civil Justice study that studied the long term effects of
>> the
>> 1975 "California Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act" that imposed
>> limits
>> on attorney fees and capped jury awards for "non-economic" damages,
>> such as
>> pain and suffering.
>>
>> Simply put, there was an overall cut in jury awards of 30% on the
>> payouts
>> from doctors and their insurers who *lose* at trial. These cuts are
>> allocated as coming from patients and lawyers: 15% from injured
>> patients and
>> 60% from [now] injured lawyers. The cases reviewed by Rand would have
>> yielded $140M (total of 257 plaintiff verdicts, from 1995 to 1999) but
>> for
>> this law that reduced these fees to $56M, or 60%. The overall awards
>> would
>> have been $421M, but this was cut by the trial judges by 30% to $295M.
>> The
>> article goes on to postulate that lawyers (in California) will be a
>> bit more
>> hesitant to file a lawsuit in cases that do not result in large
>> economic
>> damages.
>>
>> Another interesting factoid: 22% of the malpractice trials during the
>> study
>> period resulted in a victory for one or more plaintiffs.
>>
>> Bottom line according to the WSJ: Lawyers lost a lot more than
>> patients.
>>
>> We have a similar law in New Mexico.
>>
>> BTW the US Senate a few days ago killed the federal version of this
>> law,
>> passed earlier by the House.
>>
>> Gerald P. Rodríguez, M.D., FACOG
>> Santa Fe
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> "There is nothing so pitilessly and unconsciously cruel as
>> sincerity formulated into dogma." In defense of Abe Lincoln.
>> --James Russell Lowell 1863
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: <dean@thehuffpeople.net>
>> To: "Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L" <ob-gyn-l@dns.obgyn.net>
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 8:13 AM
>> Subject: Re: Damage Cap Hits Some Hard
>>
>>> .
>>>
>>> Interesting. Do you have a reference or a copy of the article that we
>>> can
>> read?
>>>
>>> - - - -
>>>
>>> Quoting "Gerald P. Rodríguez" <geraldpr@cybermesa.com>:
>>>
>>>> This is a very interesting take on this news story. The Wall St.
>> Journal
>>>> today carries that news and says that the brunt of the savings has
>>>> been
>> at
>>>> the expense of the tort/trial lawyers. I would prefer to believe
>>>> that
>>>> *this* is the real version of the truth.
>>>>
>>>> Gerald P. Rodríguez, M.D., FACOG
>>>> Santa Fe
>>>>
>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>> "There is nothing so pitilessly and unconsciously cruel as
>>>> sincerity formulated into dogma." In defense of Abe Lincoln.
>>>> --James Russell Lowell 1863
>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: <rmodugno@aol.com>
>>>> To: "Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L" <ob-gyn-l@dns.obgyn.net>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 8:54 PM
>>>> Subject: Damage Cap Hits Some Hard
>>>>
>>>>> This story was sent to you by: Robert Modugno
>>>>>
>>>>> --------------------
>>>>> Damage Cap Hits Some Hard
>>>>> --------------------
>>>>> --------------------
>>>>> --------------------
>>>>> --------------------
>>>>> --------------------
>>>>> --------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> Savings from a state medical malpractice law limiting awards often
>> come at
>>>> expense of the most injured, study says.
>>>>>
>>>>> By Lisa Girion
>>>>> Times Staff Writer
>>>>>
>>>>> July 13 2004
>>>>>
>>>>> California's landmark medical malpractice law has reduced jury
>>>>> awards
>> by
>>>> 30%, but the savings have come largely at the expense of severely
>> injured or
>>>> impaired patients, according to a study released Monday.
>>>>>
>>>>> The complete article can be viewed at:
>>>>>
>> http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-
>> malpractice13jul13,1,2783923.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business
>>>>>
>>>>> Visit Latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com
>>>>>
>************************************************************************
>****
>
>--
>************************************************************************
>Charlie Chambers
>Hood River, OR
>cchamber@alumni.rice.edu
>
>"Almost anything you do will seem insignificant but it is very important
>that you do it....You must be the change you wish to see in the world"
> -- Mahatma Ghandi.
>************************************************************************
>*******
>************************************************************************
>
--
art fougner, md
ich bin ein New Yorker
