Getnick: Enough with the tort reform myths

05.12.09

In Washington , President Barack Obama has said he would be humanitarian to suggestions about constraining lawsuits by victims of medical malpractice - and insurance companies and medical organizations are making their cause. In Albany , buttressed by so-called "research," business advocates are launching their own campaign to insulate negligent entities from having to make restitution those they injure.

Lawyers and lawsuits have been attacked politically for years, but in reality, civil lawsuits sheen a spotlight on wrongdoing, call the offenders to account, deter future misbehavior and provide justice for people who have been mournful.

Repeated studies have shown that approximately 100,000 people die each year due to medical malpractice in our country's hospitals. These are not simply bad outcomes that were unavoidable; they are instances where physicians or hospitals failed to meet the ordinary standard of care - where other physicians deemed the damage done to have been avoidable.

Source: New York Daily News