The year is almost up, and so far, I’ve had over a hundred Texans contact me and ask for me to help them file a medical malpractice case in their home state. My license and practice are in Utah…so why are they calling me? Texas is a big place, so why can’t they find a lawyer to help them a little closer to home?
They tell me they’ve tried. They say they’ve called dozens of Texas lawyers, but because of that state’s rigorous, pro-insurance “tort reform” measures, there are fewer and fewer lawyers who are able to help injury victims pursue justice. Certainly, there are still plenty of attorneys in Texas, they’ve just shifted their focus to other areas of law.
I previously wrote that the real goal of so-called “medical malpractice reform” is not to decrease health care costs or improve the quality of medical care, it is to escape the consequences of negligence. Once the attorneys are gone, negligent physicians will be able to act with impunity; there will be no one to hold them accountable.
As you might expect, the rate of medical negligence in Texas is on the rise, but injured patients have little or no recourse. Additionally, data shows that the new laws didn’t solve the “doctor shortage crisis” that lobbyists claimed.
Meanwhile, the State of Illinois held that damage caps were unconstitutional over two years ago. And what’s the result? Has there been an explosion of “frivolous” lawsuits?
Nope.
The facts won’t change the rallying cry of insurance companies and corporate healthcare lobbyists. You can rest assured that with each upcoming legislative session, they will be trotting out the same, tired old myths in an effort to get politicians to take your rights away.
