Lawsuits vs. Leisure - Spoiling Our Way of Life?

[Woodmonkey]

Lawsuits vs. Leisure (Lisa Daniels and Alexis Vena, Abrams Report producer)

Lawsuits and the threat of lawsuits are changing the quality of life for Americans, and changing the way we have fun, for better or worse: Countless playgrounds across America are missing those infamous “monkey bars”; tea cup rides at amusement parks that we all know and love — have you noticed? — they're spinning much more slowly; the price of a ski ticket is going through the roof; consumer warning labels bombard us with the dangers on everything from toothbrushes to ripping the tags off underneath pillows.* Courtrooms across America are a-buzz with lawsuits stemming from someone's good time gone bad.

One such suit led to a big change in many swimming pools, both public and private.* You’ll notice that many of them no longer have diving boards.* That might be because of a case in 1993 when 14-year-old Shawn Meneely was paralyzed from the neck-down, after diving into a neighbor's pool.* In the so-called “suicide dive,” the diver catapults himself headfirst off the board, with as much force as possible, and doesn't raise his arms for protection.

Shawn's family sued the pool builder, the diving board manufacturer, and the National Spa and Pool Institute and won over $8 million.* As a result of the family's suit and others like it, most swimming pool builders are reluctant to install diving boards.* In fact, diving board sales are down 25 percent from just five years ago.

It's a hard issue. We want to be safe, and we want to have fun.* But so did generations before us.* They survived. They didn't sue each other to this extent.* Sure, there were a few accidents. But freedom, as they say, is not perfect.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6308419/

[GoddessLindsey]

I think stuff like this is just another example of how today's society is dismissing the fact the people need to be responsible for their own actions. It's insane. People blame everyone else but themselves, and are looking to make millions of dollars in the process. Yes, I do believe things such as these are diminishing our values as a society. It's sad, but every time I turn on the t.v., I see more values, ethics, and morals go out the door. Something needs to change, or we'll all be holding a first class ticket in the proverbial handbasket.

[cb88]

Originally Posted by GoddessLindsey

I think stuff like this is just another example of how today's society is dismissing the fact the people need to be responsible for their own actions. It's insane. People blame everyone else but themselves, and are looking to make millions of dollars in the process. Yes, I do believe things such as these are diminishing our values as a society. It's sad, but every time I turn on the t.v., I see more values, ethics, and morals go out the door. Something needs to change, or we'll all be holding a first class ticket in the proverbial handbasket.

I conquer 100%!!!!

Although, God love the trial lawyers in a strange way...they ensure that the insurance industry is always recession proof.

If people want to know why insurance costs (and costs overall due to higher costs of business insurance) are up, look at the lawsuits. Insurance is reactive, we develop products to respond to inane lawsuits brought on by idiotic greedy trial lawyers *cough* john edwards *cough*. We don't make up coverage, we react to exposures that are brought about by the changing world. If you want the cost of living (including and especially insurance costs) to go down, support tort reform. The "it's someone else's fault and they owe me big because I'm a stupid idiot" mentality of this country MUST change.

OF course, then if y'all stopped suing people, I'd be out of a job because no one would buy insurance. Actually, I wouldn't mind moving on to something else if that happened, this industry is a very negative one in the sense that I am paid as a risk manager to look at something pessimistically and think of every possible even that could go wrong and everything a business could get sued for and try and help them avoid that (not just through insurance but through changes in procedures). It's very hard for someone who's usually so optimistic.

I could cite so many frivilous and ridiculous lawsuits it would blow your mind! Cases where clearly the claimant was an I D 10 Tango but wants someone else to pay for it.

Of course, I like the high speed world risk stuff I do, now that's the cat's ass! (and has nothing to do with lawsuits in general)

[cb88]

Woodmonkey....this goes right along with this topic:

Bush Calls For Malpractice Award Limits

By Matt Brady


NU Online News Service, Jan. 6, 2:26 p.m. EST</STRONG>—President Bush continued to argue his case for reforming the framework of civil litigation yesterday by assailing “junk lawsuits” he said are pushing up the cost of health care. (cb88 note: I wrote an article about just this thing, I'll have to dig it up, but GW is absolutely on the money here)

Mr. Bush's attack on medical malpractice lawsuits came during a speech delivered in what some litigation reform advocates consider the heartland of questionable civil actions, Collinsville, Ill., in Madison County.

Insurance industry representatives later praised his concepts, which had come under criticism by opponents earlier this week.

Speaking to the Illinois State Medical Society, President Bush said that while many factors in the rising costs of health care are necessary, such as research and drug development, the system is also being bogged down by unnecessary expenses.

“Many of the costs that we're talking about don't start in an examining room or an operating room. They start in a courtroom,” the president said. “What's happening all across this country is that lawyers are filing baseless suits against hospitals and doctors. That's just a plain fact. And they're doing it for a simple reason. They know the medical liability system is tilted in their favor.”

As a result of this imbalance in the judicial system, the president added, health care providers are deciding to settle cases, even those without merit, and passing the costs onto their patients.

"When insurance premiums rise, doctors have no choice but to pass some of the costs on to their patients," he said. "That means you're paying for junk lawsuits every time you go to see your doctor. That's the effect of all the lawsuits. It affects your wallet. If you're a patient, it means you're paying a higher cost to go see your doctor."

The president noted that his audience of doctors in Madison and neighboring St. Clair County are especially aware of the problem. Both counties were listed among the top “judicial hellholes” in an annual survey by the American Tort Reform Association, which described the location “as a national haven for asbestos claims” and malpractice suits.

"In other words," the president said, "if you see a team of trial lawyers spending a lot of time in the Collinsville area, you can be pretty sure they're not looking for horseradish."

Medical malpractice tort reform is one of the areas the president has targeted for spending the “political capital” he believes he earned after the November election. Among the proposals he is pushing for is a $250,000 cap on non-economic "pain and suffering" damages, reserving punitive damages for only the most egregious cases, allowing awards to be paid out over time, and requiring defendants to pay only the percentage of the award equal to their amount of liability.

Mr. Bush said he came to Madison County “because I want to assure you that, one, I understand the problem, and I intend to work with Congress to do something about it.”

"You know, when I was the governor of Texas, I felt that we could solve medical liability issues at the state level. And there were two things wrong with that strategy. One is that a state would pass good medical liability reform, and all the trial lawyers would do is go to the state that has lousy medical liability law. So you're not solving the problem, you're just shifting the problem."

Supporters of the president's plan in the industry welcomed the speech and the promise that medical malpractice tort reform will be a priority for the federal government in 2005.

“Today the president clearly stated the need for meaningful legal reforms and his intention to make them a priority during the 109th session of Congress," said Ernie Csiszar, president and chief executive officer of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. "The benefits of legal reform, most notably lower insurance premiums and lower product costs for consumers, are essential to the long-term economic success of the United States."

Speaking for health insurers, Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, voiced support for the president and the hope that he will continue to support reforms for class-action suits and medical malpractice litigation he has laid out in the past. “I hope the president will continue with his past themes,” Ms. Ignagni said. “It is time to end the litigation lottery.”

Ms. Ignagni added, “Our industry hopes the president will lay out a program that will end the irresponsible litigation on the part of the trial lawyers.”

John C. Nelson, president of the American Medical Association, also welcomed President Bush's remarks, as well as his choice of location.

"His visit today to Illinois—one of 20 states in a full-blown medical liability crisis—highlights the need for policymakers to enact proven reforms to prevent the crisis from becoming worse," Dr. Nelson said.

Dr. Nelson added that the crisis is especially acute in southern Illinois, where Madison and St. Clair counties are located. "It is a simple fact that the state's out-of-control legal system has driven insurance premiums sky-high and forced high-risk specialists, including neurosurgeons and obstetrician-gynecologists, to restrict services, retire early and leave the state," he said "We are deeply concerned that southern Illinois residents—or anyone driving through the state—could lose their life because of this crisis."

Earlier in the week, opponents of the president's proposals made a pre-emptive strike, holding a conference call with reporters.

Jay Angoff, director of the Missouri Department of Insurance from 1993 to 1998, said during the conference call, "The president is doing the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong place." Mr. Angoff added, "Insurance companies have never made more money than they did in 2004," citing a large industry surplus. Mr. Angoff said the insurers are "rolling in dough; they're swimming in dough."

Rep. Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill., talked during the conference call about testimony she has heard at various congressional hearings, notably from insurance industry officials testifying that the industry can't guarantee rate decreases if caps are set.

She noted that statistics showed medical malpractice insurance rates for doctors increased more in states with caps than elsewhere and added that she didn't think it was surprising that rates might be higher in Illinois, because there's "virtually no regulation." She said that President Bush's likely proposal had "built-in discrimination," and "it really discriminates against women and children."

Instead, Rep. Schakowsky said the problem of medical malpractice rates should be dealt with from an insurance regulation perspective rather than through tort reforms. (yes, let's force MORE insurance compapnies out of business with making them charge cheap premiums when the premiums they are charging already don't cover the losses they pay out...in some cases loss ratios for carriers were as high as 300%, that means they paid out 3 x's what they collected in premiums--can't stay in business long that way --another STOOPID Democrat that doesn't have CLUE ONE about the insurance industry!!!) "We need to deal with insurance regulation, and we need to deal head on with the problem of malpractice and medical mistakes," she said. (of course you think that, you would be putting a damper on the high profits of your trial lawyer buddies....30-50% of ALL lawsuit settlements go STRAIGHT to lawyers' fees---so, who really wins with the system as it is now??? Let's regulate trial lawyers and how much they can collect on lawsuits they file to "help their poor injured clients")

[JohnRN]

The courtsa ren't seen as a way to win justice but as a way to get rich quick.

It is now considered fortunate to have misfortune befall you - because that is the first step to a life of riches.

Despicable... I still don't understand why the juries and judges don't throw these cases out on their ears...

[Snowden]

John Grisham wrote an excellent expose about this in his recent book The King of Torts. It's a bit slow at first, but quickly consuming - especially when one reflects on the fact that such a lawyer came all too close to becoming the vice president of this nation.

Grisham writes fiction; however, he is a lawyer and takes you behind the scenes to the very real world of private law practice as handled by todays' legal teams. This one, showing just what these lawyers - the Edwards types - do to become overnight millionaires and/or billionaires - is well worth the read.

Yes, the president is spot on with this choice of pursuit - let's get the tort law outlawed! Probably one of the first benefits would be affordable medical care again by doctors who are in that practice because they like people. It may even cut down the prices of prescription medicines to where the poor can afford to buy what they need.

LA, you may want to write this one up, in fact.

[Bill in Michigan]

Originally Posted by John.

The courtsa ren't seen as a way to win justice but as a way to get rich quick.

It is now considered fortunate to have misfortune befall you - because that is the first step to a life of riches.

Despicable... I still don't understand why the juries and judges don't throw these cases out on their ears...

I think that the reason that juries dont throw a lot of this out is the " what if this happens to me? I might get even more than I am awarding this guy" syndrome. BIM CB88; Young Luke has snuck over to the dark side from the other thread and is impressed with what he sees!!! BIM