Arbitrary Damage Caps Reward Negligent and Wrongful Actors and Punish the Innocent Citizens of Oklahoma

Posted by Jacob Diesselhorst on February 17, 2011

In 2009 (less than 2 years ago), Oklahoma passed what the then-newly-annointed Republican Majority Senate and House Leadership coined "Landmark Comprehensive Lawsuit Reform." 

Per the Oklahoma GOP's own Press Release of May 11, 2009--

 The agreement is multi-faceted, including several key components of reform which will improve health care access to all Oklahomans, as well as assuring small business’ health and viability in the state.

“I’m very pleased with the agreement,” said Glen Coffee (the then Republican Senate Majority Leader and now, somehow, Secretary of State (We will save that for another day).  In May 2009, Coffee proclaimed  “Republicans have promised reform of the legal system, the people expect us to deliver, and we have in fact delivered.  The spirit of cooperation exhibited by all parties in this negotiation was gratifying, and is indicative of what can be done when people negotiate in good faith toward a mutually beneficial goal,” Coffee continued. “We look forward to sending this historic reform to Governor Henry to ratify the hard work all the parties have accomplished for the state.”

Current House Speaker Benge (who is now acting like 2009 never happened in pushing the GOP's new Corporate Welfare and Lawsuit Immunity laws) said back in 2009 about the then passed broadsweeping lawsuit reform:

We have said since the beginning of session that lawsuit reform was one of our top priorities, and this agreement represents a huge victory for the people of Oklahoma today.  All interested parties have worked together to make this deal a reality and I am proud of the collaboration that has occurred.  This legislation will ensure access to the courts for all who have legitimate claims, but will also bring some certainty to a system that has recently become a hindrance to economic development in our state. I look forward to Gov. Henry signing this bill.”

Dan Sullivan, a prominent lawyer for insurance companies and large corporations in Oklahoma and GOP Representative from Tulsa, also said in 2009: 

This agreement provides additional protections to the medical and business community from frivolous suits while protecting the right to a trial by a jury of their peers for those that are truly injured.

HOW SOON WE FORGET.  Now, the Oklahoma GOP Big Business Republicans, drunk with power in Oklahoma, having swept their way into the Governor's office and total, unfettered control of Oklahoma, plans to tip the scales of justice completely over in favor of negligent and reckless defendant tort feasors by passing the most broadsweeping and unconstitional civil justice changes in modern US History.  These laws should not and in fact do not appeal to social minded and reasonable Conservative Oklahomans.  See Example 1 and Example 2. 

The Oklahoma GOP is slithering these bills through at the Capital with very little fanfare and Oklahoma is just sitting back while the bandits are making away with the take.  In fact, Most Oklahomans do not know about these additional draconian changes and clearly do not know that not a single one of the "reforms" the GOP are now proposing favor individual Oklahomans- they all favor negligent and reckless civil defendants. 

ARBITRARY $250K DAMAGE CAPS  THAT RESTRICT JURY AWARDS NO MATTER HOW BAD A DEFENDANT ACTS AND HOW HORRIBLY AND PERMANENTLY AN INNOCENT OKLAHOMAN IS INJURED OR MAIMED = NO ACCOUNTABILITY.

And who bears the burden of this Corporate Bailout/Corporate Welfare?---regular Oklahomans- You, me, our kids, our parents, especially the must vulnerable of all:

  • children
  • the elderly
  • stay at home moms '
  • lower wage earners like pastors, fireman, police officers, teachers, etc.

According to the Oklahoma GOP, The most damages a jury can ever award these type of Oklahomans, no matter how catastrophic and long-term their injuries may be, is only 250k. 90% of Oklahomans would never support this type of law--yet it will likely sail through the on the backs of the politicians the Chamber put in place, right onto the desk of Mary Failing who will not even read it before she signs it. 

After these horrific and unconstitutional bills become law, Oklahomans who have LEGITIMATE CIVIL CASES and whose only avenue for justice is the COURTHOUSE, will be the one's left out in the cold with no way to get JUSTICE for their loss of quality of life---pain and suffering, disability, inability to earn a living, etc. 

The Oklahoma GOP's new, so-called "Tort Reform" rewards negligent corporations cutting corners for profits, bad nursing homes, foreign produce manufacturers like drug companies and medical device companies, bad doctors, unsafe truck drivers, drunk drivers, texting drivers etc. and their multi-billion dollar Insurance Company allies.   All this at the expense of your constitutional right to a non-biased and fair trial by jury of your peers- Oklahoma citizens. 

How about we let Oklahoma juries sort out legitimate civil disputes and not well-greased and bought-and-paid-for politicians (who talk out of both sides of their mouths depending on what year it is) and whose only interests they apparently protect are those of the corporate donors who got them elected and will keep them in office. 

The Myth of Frivolous Medical Lawsuits, Part 1: Corporate America's Bait and Switch

Posted by Jacob Diesselhorst on August 03, 2010

Doctor-Quiet-734076.jpg

Recently, President Obama approved $25 million dollars in an grants to research methods to reduce costs associated with medical malpractice lawsuits.  As discussed in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, authored by Janet Adamy, these grants were added as a last-second compromise to this year's sweeping health insurance reform legislation in an effort to appease spurious calls by Corporate America for "tort reform." 

Of course, complaints by doctors, hospitals and insurance companies, that medical malpractice claims are out of control and a leading cause of rising health care costs, are overblown, unsupported and are nothing more than yet another corporate hustle of the American public. 

A recent article from FoxNews in September of 2009, features the regular misinformation of the GOP, in calling for arbitrary limits on damages to the victims of medical error and their families, that medical malpractice reform is a "critical way to drive down health care costs," arguing that fear of frivolous lawsuits and the big payouts they can award patients drives doctors to practice 'defensive medicine' and has caused medical malpractice insurance rates to rise contributing to higher health care costs."

Of course, non-biased health economists and independent legal experts who study the issue, don’t believe these claims are true.  Malpractice liability costs are only but a small fraction of the spiraling costs of the U.S. health care system.  Medical errors (which medical liability cases are aimed to prevent) are the true culprit and are, in themselves, a huge cost– both to the injured patients and to the health care system as a whole.  In fact, a recent study by HealthGrades (PDF) showed that medical errors cost our country $8.8 billion dollars between 2004 and 2006 and accounted for more than 230,000 preventable deaths during this same time period.

“It’s really just a distraction,” said Tom Baker, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and author of “The Medical Malpractice Myth (PDF).”

If you were to eliminate medical malpractice liability, even forgetting the negative consequences that would have for safety, accountability, and responsiveness, maybe we’d be talking about 1.5 percent of health care costs. So we’re not talking about real money. It’s small relative to the out-of-control cost of health care. 

The new health care reform bill includes common sense programs aimed at reducing preventable injuries while protecting injured plaintiffs' legal rights, improving communication betweens doctors and patients and reducing liability insurance premiums.  A smaller set of one-year grants will go to 13 states and health-care systems to help develop evidence-based guidelines to curb lawsuits and define legal standards of care for health-care providers.