Welcome
to The Committee for Justice for All, a group opposed to
"tort reform." On this site, you
will find a wealth of articles, studies, reports and
data debunking claims regarding "lawsuit
abuse," jury verdicts and the alleged "medical
malpractice crisis." Start with our Essential
Reading section below.
Mythbuster: Two Dozen Things Your Doctor Won't Tell You About
"Tort Reform " -
Comprehensive overview of myths vs. facts.Medical
Malpractice & Liability: Just the Facts -
Comprehensive facts and figures
CJA
President Attorney David I.
Fallk discusses proposed
restrictions on injured
people's legal rights on WYOU-TV
Interactive News (PART 1) on Oct. 22,
2007. See
PART
2
here
"Rendell:
Medical malpractice crisis is over" - Oct. 25,
2007"Medical
Malpractice Litigation in Pennsylvania"
- PA Bar Association, May 2006"Insurance
'Crisis' Officially Over - Medical Malpractice Rates Have Been Stable for a Year"
- Americans for Insurance Reform, February 2006"Hurt?
Injured? Need a Lawyer? Too Bad!" - Texas
Monthly, December 2005"The
Truth About Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse" "Rising
Premiums and Falling Claims in the Medical Malpractice
Insurance Industry" - Center for Justice &
Democracy, July 2005"Medical
Malpractice Payout Trends 1991-2004: Evidence Shows
Lawsuits Haven't Caused Doctors' Insurance Woes"
- Public Citizen, April 2005"Stability, Not Crisis: Medical Malpractice Claims
Outcomes in Texas, 1988-2002"
| Summary
"Faulty
Data and False Conclusions: The Myth of Skyrocketing
Medical Malpractice Verdicts" - Commonweal
Institute, October 2004Full
Report "The
Effect of Malpractice Liability on the Delivery of
Health Care" - National Bureau of Economic
Research finds no connection between lawsuits and
premium hikes. "The Facts About Medical Malpractice in
Pennsylvania" - Public Citizen, March 2004,
Executive Summary. Full
report
"A
Short Guide to Understanding Today's Malpractice 'Crisis'" - Center for
Justice for Democracy, September 2002"Injustice
in the Wake of the False Promise of Tort Reform" -
Attorney Michael J. Foley, Scranton, Pa.
Patient
Safety - By the Numbers A
Guide for Patients: How to Ensure Your Own Safety "Medicine Mix-Ups Harm Hospitalized Kids"
- Associated Press, April 7, 2008"Medicare
to make hospitals pay for serious mistakes"
- Associated Press, Feb. 19. 2008"Study Finds Gaps Between Doctors' Standards and Actions"
- Washington Post, Dec. 4, 2007"Half
of doctors mum about medical mistakes" -
Reuters via MSNBC, Dec. 3, 2007"Medical board moves slowly against addicted doctors"
- The Patriot-News, Nov. 10, 2007"Reports
of medication injuries have doubled" - Reuters
/ MSNBC - Sept. 10, 2007"Medicare
Says It Won’t Cover Hospital Errors"
- The NY Times, Aug. 19, 2007"Report
details surgical errors: In Pa., 175 mistakes in 30
months" - Phila. Inquirer, June 27, 2007"'Adverse
drug events' a worsening problem" -
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 20, 2007 "Hospital
Errors Put More Patients at Risk"
- ABC News. April 4, 2007"Study
Finds Widespread Medication Errors During Surgery"
- ABC News, March 6, 2007"Basic
errors by docs cause of most malpractice" -
Associated Press, Oct. 2, 2006When
Doctors Hide Medical Errors - Editorial, The New
York Times, Sept. 9, 2006"Medical
mistakes kept secret" - The State, Columbia,
SC, Aug. 11, 2006"Analysis:
Why docs don't say sorry" - United Press
International, Aug. 16, 2006"Gambling
with your life: Millions of mistakes happen in the
lab. Here's how to protect yourself."
- Reader's Digest, August 2006Medical Guesswork: From heart surgery to prostate care, the health industry knows little about which common treatments really work - Business Week Cover Story, May 29, 2006"'Wrong
site' surgeries on the rise" - USAToday, April
17, 2006MORE
"Shortage
of surgeons pinches U.S." - USA Today, Feb. 26,
2008"Study:
Malpractice crisis had little effect on Pa. doctor
supply" - The Associated Press, April 26, 2007"Physician retention appears to be higher" - The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News, Nov. 13, 2006"Local
hospitals reject idea of shortage of obstetricians"
- June 2, 2006"Stealing
from the Poor to Care for the Rich" - NY Times,
Dec. 14, 2005"What Crisis? - GAO: Malpractice Premium Spikes
Don't Force Out Docs" - The Washington Post,
Sept. 16, 2003"Medical
miscalculation creates doctor shortage" -
USAToday, March 4, 2005"Implications of Rising Premiums on Access to Health
Care" - GAO finds no evidence of doctor "exodus"
in Pa., August 2003
"Doctors
can't prove thinning ranks"
- The Morning Call, Allentown,
Pa., April 23, 2004."Diagnosis of the numbers shows doctors not leaving
state in droves" ; SIDEBAR: "'Disappearing docs' list is
inaccurate, a few phone calls show" - The Morning Call, Allentown,
Pa., April 18, 2004"'Disappearing
Doctors' Web site admits to posting erroneous info"
- The Citizens' Voice,
Wilkes-Barre, April 1, 2004
"Was malpractice crisis ever an actual crisis?"
- The Tribune, Scranton, Pa., Nov. 28, 2003"Poor-mouthing:
Despite their malpractice premiums, America's doctors
are doing just fine" - By Paul T. von Hippel,
professor of economics at Ohio State University, Oct.
20, 2004"How
many docs have really fled?" - Philadelphia Daily News, June 10,
2004
"Focus
on fix for malpractice, not numbers game" - The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, May
16, 2004"Healing
Trend, With an Exception" - The
Tribune, Scranton, April 23, 2004" The
long-awaited verdict: Doctors are staying put""Tangretti challenges Pa. Medical Society chairman
on scare tactics" - News Release, April 23,
2004CLICK HERE FOR MORE
"Pattern
of Greed 2007: How Insurance Companies Put Profits Over
Policyholders" - American Association for
Justice (Adobe PDF Format)"New Data Confirms That Doctors Were Price-Gouged
by the Insurance Industry During This Decade" -
Americans for Insurance Reform, March 29, 2007 - Press Release |
Full Report "Earnings for Insurers Are Soaring" - NY Times, Oct. 16, 2006"Medical malpractice: The truth behind N.J.'s crisis"
- Courier Post, Aug. 14, 2005"Two
Reciprocal executives sentenced in insurance
scandal" - Hampton Roads (Va.) Daily Press,
June 28, 2005"Insurance
Profits Reveal Gouging, Need for Reforms" - The
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, April 26,
2005"Premium
Deceit: The Failure of 'Tort Reform' to Cut Insurance
Prices" - Center for Justice and Democracy"Stable
Losses / Unstable Rates in Pa." -
Americans for Insurance Reform explain why
doctors' rates are going up, Jan. 16, 2003AP:
"Pa. insurers reporting lower med-mal payouts last
year" - April 22, 2004"HMOs
nearly double profits in 2003" - Jacksonville Business Journal, August 30,
2004CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Editorial:
"Tort reform hypocrite stumbles onto the
truth" - Tomah Journal, June 21, 2007"Frist's
support of caps would favor family business" -
Associated Press, Dec. 4, 2005Lawsuit Abuse Critic Explains Suit; Senator's Wife Sued a Chiropractor for $500,000 "
- ABC News, Nov. 10, 2005"Wellpoint
settles with doctors over pay practices" -
USAToday, July 13, 2005"The Hypocrite
in Chief" - Read about how
President Bush pursued a "frivolous" lawsuit
against a rental-car company."Bush
Criticism of Frivolous Lawsuits Hypocritical" -
The Daily Mis-Lead, August 3, 2004
"Dick Cheney: Master Litigator" -
Read about the 151 lawsuits Halliburton
filed while he was the company's CEO."Sen.
Santorum's wife wins lawsuit" - Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, Dec. 11, 1999."Town
OKs $9.9M deal in lawsuit by injured doctor"
- Southern Conn. Newspapers, Sept. 1, 2004"Doctor
who won $6 million wants malpractice caps" - Greenwich (Conn.) Time, April 25,
2004"Not
So Frivolous" - Ohio doc used by President
Bush as poster boy has lawsuit history. New York Times, June 18,
2004"Medical-malpractice
battle gets personal" - USAToday details
retribution by docs against victims and trial lawyers,
June 13, 2004
IN
THE NEWS
Lawyers
not at fault
The
Times Leader
Before
we fault patients for seeking
justice in the courts when things
go horribly wrong in the hospital,
let's look at some facts.
"Meet
Big Business' Favorite Granny"
- Mother Jones, May 2008"Dennis Quaid Talks Medical Errors With Congress"
- ABC News, May 14, 2008"Suit: Man gets cancerous lungs, dies, in transplant at Penn"
- Associated Press, April 7, 2008"Medicine Mix-Ups Harm Hospitalized Kids"
- Associated Press, April 7, 2008"Supreme
Court Inc." - NY Times Magazine, March 16.
2008 "Forget that day in
court" - LA Times, March 3, 2008"Shortage
of surgeons pinches U.S." - USA Today, Feb. 26,
2008"Arbitration
a Growing Trend in Health Care" - Phila.
Inquirer, Feb. 10, 2008 "Suit
alleges doctor altered record" - Times Leader,
Jan. 25, 2008"Medicaid
will not cover errors in Pa." - Phila.
Inquirer, Jan. 23, 2008"Lacking
lawyers, justice is denied" - LA Times, Dec.
29, 2007"Numbers
disputed in Mcare argument" - the Patriot-News,
Dec. 21, 2007"Study Finds Gaps Between Doctors' Standards and Actions"
- Washington Post, Dec. 4, 2007"Half
of doctors mum about medical mistakes" -
Reuters via MSNBC, Dec. 3, 2007"Suckers Wanted: How Car Dealers and Other Businesses are Taking Away Your Right
to Sue" - Mother Jones, Nov. 26, 2007"Baby, I Lied: Rural Texas is still waiting for the doctors tort reform was supposed to deliver." - Texas Observer, October 19, 2007"Rendell:
Medical malpractice crisis is over" - Oct. 25,
2007 | Governor's
news release CJA
Applauds Medicare Rule Change - Aug. 3, 2007
"Drug makers, med school ties common"
- MSNBC, Oct. 16, 2007"Reports
of medication injuries have doubled" - Reuters
/ MSNBC - Sept. 10, 2007"Medicare
Says It Won’t Cover Hospital Errors"
- The NY Times, Aug. 19, 2007"Birth
of phony 'crisis'" - The Times-Tribune, Aug.
13, 2007"Report
details surgical errors: In Pa., 175 mistakes in 30
months" - Phila. Inquirer, June 27, 2007"There's
No Profit for Most in Limiting Lawsuits" - The
Patriot-News, June 19, 2007"Hospital's waiver concerns lawyers"
- Times Leader, Feb. 26, 2007"State
touts improving conditions for doctors" - The
Patriot-News, Nov. 2, 2006"Refusal
to seal malpractice suit praised" - The Times
Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Sept. 8, 2006MORE NEWS
Mr.
Fancy Pants - YouTube video puts "tort
reform" into perspective - July 2007"The
Right Wing's Drive for 'Tort Reform'" - the
Nation, October 2004"The
Attack on Trial Lawyers and Tort Law" -
Commonweal Institute, October 2003Corporate Astroturf and Civil Justice: The Corporations Behind “Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse”
- March 2003"Dominance
on GOP Agenda" - LA Times, Feb. 2, 2005
"The
Real Goal of Tort Reform" - Baltimore
Chronicle, Dec. 17, 2004"Look Who's Behind 'Tort
Reform'"
- The Nation, October 24, 2004
"False Alarm: How the media helps the insurance
industry and the GOP promote the myth of America's
'lawsuit crisis'" - Washington Monthly,
October 2004"Now, smearing the trial lawyers" - Boston Globe, August
25, 2004
"Statistics
don't support Bush's bashing of trial lawyers" -
Op-ed by Newsday columnist Marie Cocco, July 13, 2004"Cooking
Up a Crisis" - NY Times columnist Bob Herbert
exposes the big lie, June 25, 2004"Malpractice
Myths" - NY Times columnist Bob Herbert says
tort reform "all about greed," June 21, 2004"Malpractice
Makes Perfect: How the GOP milks a bogus doctors'
insurance 'crisis'" - Washington
Monthly, October 2003
"Incredible
lawsuit tales" - Houston Chronicle, Nov. 25,
2007"Texas
trial judges see healthy system" - San Antonio
Express-News, Nov. 10, 2007 Read
entire Baylor Law Review article "'Frivolous'
malpractice lawsuits uncommon: study"
- Reuters, May 10, 2006"The
infamous coffee spill" - The
facts about the hot-coffee suit
against McDonald's, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 18,
2004
"Hey,
is there a good reason in the house?" - Dave
Iseman, The
Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Oct. 8, 2004"Bestowing
the First Chucklehead Award: Don't
blame poor Stella for loony litigation, whether
it's factual or fiction " -
Ventura County Star, Dec. 18, 2004
"An
Imaginary Crisis" - Texas Observer, Nov. 30,
2007"That Malpractice 'Epidemic'? Legal Analysis Finds That Patients Fare Poorly in Court"
- Washington Post, May 8, 2007"Hype
outraces facts in malpractice debate" -
USA Today, March 5, 2003"Doctors and insurers say
malpractice awards must be capped. Their diagnosis may be
wrong," U.S. News & World Report,
June 30, 2003"Malpractice crisis? Who says there's a malpractice
crisis?" - The Times Leader,
Wilkes-Barre, June 24, 2004"Numbers
disputed in debate over caps" - Harrisburg
Patriot-News, March 7, 2004MORE
"Malpractice
caps limit care" - Albuquerque Lawyer, May 10,
2006 Group
claims there's no explosion in malpractice
lawsuits" - Numbers show huge drop in lawsuits,
verdicts, The
Citizens' Voice, Oct. 9, 2004Main
story | Sidebar
Malpractice lawsuits took big fall in 2003" -
The Tribune, Scranton, Pa., March 19, 2004. Read
Other Coverage from Around Pa.
"In
Malpractice Trials, Juries Rarely Have Last Word: Large
Awards Grab Attention, But Aren't Paid Out" -
Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2004"Justice
denied? Few lawyers willing to take Calif. cases because
of cap on damages" - LA Times, Aug. 1, 2004
"Lacking
lawyers, justice is denied" - LA Times, Dec.
29, 2007"Baby, I Lied: Rural Texas is still waiting for the doctors tort reform was supposed to deliver." - Texas Observer, October 19, 2007"Smoking
Gun: Nation’s Largest Medical Malpractice Insurer Declares Caps on Damages Don’t
Work" - Foundation
for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, Oct. 26, 2004"Justice
denied? California malpractice victims hit a
barrier" - LA Times, Aug. 1, 2004"Damage
cap hits some hard" - LA Times, July 13, 2004CLICK HERE FOR MORE
"Reporting medical mistakes helps prevent lawsuits"
- The Citizen's Voice, June 12, 2008"State’s ability to protect residents short-circuited
by fed bureaucrats" - The Sunday Times-Tribune,
May 18, 2008"Safety,
accountability best medicine" - The Sunday
Times-Tribune, Jan. 28, 2008"Courageous
Protests" - The Times-Tribune, Nov. 16, 2007"Salute
a Masterpiece" - For Constitution Day, The
Times-Tribune, Sept. 17, 2007 "Birth
of phony 'crisis'" - The Times-Tribune, Aug.
13, 2007"There's
No Profit for Most in Limiting Lawsuits" - The
Patriot-News, June 19, 2007"Malpractice
'crisis' more politics than policy" - Stephanie
Mencimer, The Sunday Times-Tribune, May 6, 2007"Physician
retention appears to be higher" - The
Patriot-News, Nov. 13, 2006Symptoms
point to insurance despite political misdiagnosis -
The Sunday Times, Oct. 2, 2006Trial
lawyers' contributions misunderstood - The Times
Leader, Aug. 17, 2006"Not
So Frivolous" - The Washington Post, May 26,
2006"Diversionary
tactic" - The Times-Tribune, May 16, 2006"No
better time to press reforms" - The Sunday
Times-Tribune, April 16, 2006"Hold health care providers accountable for avoidable problems"
- Times Leader, April 2, 2006"Lawsuit caps won’t cure medical mistakes, misdiagnoses"
- Times Leader, Jan. 20, 2006MORE
