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But let me tell you what else we need to do. We need to do something about these frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of your health care and running good docs out of business. (Applause.) We've got an issue in America. Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country. See, I don't think you can be pro-doctor and pro-patient and pro-hospital and pro-trial lawyer at the same time. (Applause.) I think you've got to make a choice. My opponent made his choice, and he put him on the ticket. (Applause.) I made my choice. I'm for medical liability reform now. (Applause.) In all we do to improve health care, we will make sure that health decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. (Applause.) George W. Bush Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Sept. 06, 2004

I'm not sure how many OB/GYNs are lovelorn castaways, but apparently, if you ask George W. Bush, it's a regular trail of tears out there. And apparently it's all the fault of them "trial lawyers" and them "bureaucrats in Washington DC". (naturally Bush doesn't count himself among those "bureaucrats" in Washington DC) Likewise, you're either "pro-doctor" and "pro-hospital" and "pro-patient" or - your one of them! You know who I mean - one of them "pro-trial lawyer" types. Like John Kerry and his little grinning sidekick. Thems is one of them! Git the gun Ma! They is either with us or a'gin us!

Texas Hell Holes!
Rick Perry, Governor of the State of Texas speaking to the (right wing think tank) Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy Forum. (October 8, 2003):

Prior to the enactment of meaningful tort reform a few months ago, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce designated Texas among the five worst states in terms of the litigation climate in the nation. The American Tort Reform Association last year named four Texas counties as judicial hell holes, areas where normal rules of balance and fair play under the law don’t exist.

Nowhere is the evidence of lawsuit abuse more clear than in the medical profession. Fifty percent of all Texas doctors indicated as of the year 2000 that they had a claim filed against them. Seven out of every eight medical malpractice case was dismissed without payment because they were deemed meritless or questionable.

The threat of litigation has a domino effect, though, causing malpractice carriers to raise rates, which in turn force many doctors to leave Texas, or in some cases to leave the practice of medicine altogether. And ultimately this hurts patient access the most. Link

But wait, it wasn't always this way. What's Perry talking about when he claims that until a "few months ago" Texas was one of the "five worst states" in the country? What! Why, I remember when:

He promised to reform the legal system, to get rid of junk lawsuits and he has. Today the legal system serves all the people, not just the trial lawyers.

Hip hip horay! That's Dick Cheney yackin'. More than four years ago before cheering throngs at the Republican National Convention. Waxing grandiose-like about George W. Bush's friv'luss lawsuit stompin' achievements when he was the govern-ator of Texas. (Quote snipped from the text of Cheney's speech to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Aug, 2nd, 2000.)

So what happened there Big Time? What's Tricky Ricky talking about? Or, could it be, I have unearthed another flip-floppery buried beneath the Bush ruins!! Someone ring Judy Woodruff and inform her of this latest discovery. Oh, no, wait, Judy only deals in "officially" approved flip-flops. Never mind.

So, how did Texas go from a "junk lawsuit" free zone, as of August 2000, to what Texas Gov. Rick Perry descibes as a "judicial hell hole" only a short two years later?

Could it be that the whole "frivolous lawsuit" shriek is just one more excitable tried and true election year boo-scare prop the Republican's and their stable of corporate sponsored slut-doxies in the so called "mainstream" broadcast media love to pull from the big bag of frights and fiends? Just one more grotesquerie to wag in the public square like a bat-winged angel waving the hairless severed head of Saint Cosmas before a room full of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus? Don't answer that. By the way: Saint Cosmas is also the patron saint of the chemical industry. Just in case you were about to drop a nasty tortish thing into the comment slot below.

In the current issue of Mother Jones, the National Center for State Courts is reported to have found that the rate of tort filings in Texas fell by 37% between 1990 and 2000. - [1]

Flip flops and boo-frights aside lets revisit Rick Perry's comments above:

Seven out of every eight medical malpractice case was dismissed without payment because they were deemed meritless or questionable.

Bureau of Justice Statistics:

according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in medical malpractice cases doctors win about 75% of the time. - [2]

Punitive damages:

In the 1990s, punitive damages (tort reformers' biggest bugaboo) were awarded in only 6% of all jury trials and averaged $50,000. - [3]

So what's the problem? Oh, wait....the real problem is not necessarily "frivolous lawsuits" themselves, but rather the "threat" of "frivolous lawsuits." Ah ha! And to make matters worse the "domino effect" is afoot. Preemptive strike! Rick Perry again:

The threat of litigation has a domino effect, though, causing malpractice carriers to raise rates, which in turn force many doctors to leave Texas, or in some cases to leave the practice of medicine altogether.

This is a little like claiming that the threat of tornadoes or hurricanes or fires is fueling a mass exodus from the midwest or southeast or southern California to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Granted some will leave for new horizons but what's really driving doctors away.

Doc went a courtin' he did ride.....
George Bush now claims that "frivolous lawsuits" are preventing OB/GYNs from practicing their "love with women." Why those kill joy trial lawyers! What the hell is this here whiner talkin about?:

Delivering babies has also been severely devalued. As a personal example, my former next-door neighbor retired early from his OBGYN practice several years ago, about ten years earlier than he had planned. The HMOs literally destroyed the value of his practice and he had not been paying himself for about a year, just to be able to maintain his staff. He wound up selling his practice for a fraction of its former value, even though it had grown and, though he delivered thousands of babies, he never had a malpractice claim. He showed me invoices that he continued to send to his patients which indicated what they should have been charged versus what HMOs were actually reimbursing him. He wanted his patients to at least know, although I doubt that many of them would have called the HMO to complain about shortchanging their doctor. - [4]

Ah...bureaucrats, - the HMO:

Only the HMOs and pharmaceutical companies have prospered in this environment. Their executives routinely earn million-dollar salaries and bonuses, and their profit margins can border on the obscene. Any savings squeezed out of the doctors goes right into the pockets of the corporations--protected as they are by regulations and patents earned through excellent lobbying. Beyond the money scams, they often sanction bad medicine, but the courts consistently rule for the HMOs so that they can't be sued (one of the many patient bills of rights not granted) and the pharmaceuticals get their patents extended in dubious fashion. - [5]

Bureaucrats says Bush:

In all we do to improve health care, we will make sure that health decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. (Applause.)

Speed up the line!:

Another insidious result of the concept of "managed care"--the euphemism adopted for taking control away from doctors--is that some docs are prone to take shortcuts, work too fast, and, perhaps, use less care when what they earn is now largely dependent on how many procedures they can bill for. It has probably also contributed to a reported increase in fraudulent claims for reimbursement. - [6]

Conclusion:

Although the propaganda machine decries the increasing size of awards and the number of "frivolous" suits being filed, the record amounts to, at best, anecdotal evidence and anomalies. The facts on the ground paint a far different picture. - [7]

Footnotes 1-7 cited above and excerpted from: Malpractice Insurance and Public Policy by J. Russell Tyldesley, the Baltimore Chronicle Read it all for complete context.

Ya know, I just happened to catch that perennial CNN pop-up ad Bill Schneider regurgitating his usual buggy mash of advice for the campaign savvy. According to Schneider what John Kerry's campaign needs to focus on are the "issues." That's right, the issues. Good thinkin' Billy! Who would have ever thought that the issues might be an important thang to consider during a presidential election. You're a genius Schneider! You make your pals at the American Enterprise Institute right proud!

Jeezis Key Ryst, when was the last time anyone at CNN ever demonstrated any interest in seriously discussing "the issues?" What, Judy Woodruff? Oh LOL,......stop, yer killin' me.

So Bill Schneider, you smiley overinflated think tank gasbag, why don't YOU and your cheery bottom-feeding high school yearbook "journalist" friends at CNN jump-start that "issues" conversation yourselves? Why don't YOU set the example? Why don't YOU talk about the fucking issues, Bill CNN Schneider? Get that ball rolling Billy! Toss out the first pitch. Throw the long ball! Rise to the occasion! Dance in the end zone! Flex those rippling CNN muscles charming Billy!

What's the matter Schneider, afraid you'd be out of a job if you had to spend valuable face time doing something other than weaving 30 second sound-bite yarns around random telephone polls? You're a fuckin' fraud Schneider. You and your ilk at CNN are the real girly-men. You couldn't shake out an issue if it crawled up your pant leg and began clawing at your shriveled nutsack. You're all sanctinomious frauds bought and sold. You are the same people who baked and boxed the cakewalk war in Iraq. Frosting lickers! You and everyone at CNN should be fined on a daily basis for impersonating journalists.

I dare you to prove me wrong Schneider. I challenge you to peel back the layers on any issue. Pick one. That would be a start. And that goes for all the rest of the milquetoast pushovers at CNN/Time Warner/AOL or whatever in God's name it actually is. Bet ya can't do it. Bet ya won't even try. All hat no cattle. Except maybe Lou Dobbs, at least for the time being. In any case, I'll be sleeping with one eye open around every one of you sneaky puling horse thieving bastards.

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