Papantonio: Californians Fight Malpractice Caps

[GoLeft TV]

For decades, Republican and corporate leaders have been trying to pass tort reform – a cap on the amount of damages that can be recovered when a consumer is injured. In California, they succeeded in enacting medical malpractice caps a few years ago, but now consumers are fighting back.

America's Lawyer Mike Papantonio discusses the fight against unfair tort reform measures with attorney Anne Marie Murphy.

[supercats]

1. Thank You Pap For This Segment....

I will most definitely be voting YES on 46!!! Just one more reason to hate republicans!!

[Dustlawyer]

2. In Texas they past the same thing with the $250k cap as well. Same lies were told.

Governor Perry did ceremonial signings around the state to rub it in our noses and doctors were so happy! At the signing in our town doctors were streaming in to see Perry sign the bill, again and again. Some union members and I went and protested and we saw a notorious doctor walk in who had amputated the wrong leg of his patient, twice!
Now when I see people come in my office wanting to file a med mal case I usually have tell them that they will have a hard time finding an attorney due to the cap. As the video states, unless you are a high wage earner with several years of work expectancy, the answer will be "sorry, I can't help you." A $250k cap means that after paying the medical expert (if you can find one), even if you hit for the full amount of the cap and survive the inevitable appeals, after attorney's fees and expenses, there is almost nothing for the victim. Doctors insurance rates dipped a little for a couple of years and then went right back up. Little kids are the hardest hit since there is no economic loss to their cases at all, it's just the medical bills and the $250k for pain and suffering, even for someone rendered a quadriplegic due to medical negligence. When you tell the RW victims or their parents this they usually respond that they thought that the tort reform was needed and that this would never AFFECT THEM! Their case is not frivolous like all of the others!
People generally hate lawyers so it was easy to get it passed. I noticed that there is a thread on DU right now just telling lawyer jokes. Here in Texas they believe that all we file are frivolous cases and it is very hard to get a jury to award money because of that. It also affects settlement values for the same reason, jury's don't usually award much, if any money for legitimate cases, and if they do, the Texas Supreme Court rules against individuals almost 90% of the time! Big money rigged the system!

[Enthusiast]

3. California is the only state that could possibly correct this.

Think about it.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

4. K&R

Until I saw this video, I was unaware of the $250,000 cap. YES on 46!

Thank you for posting, GoLeft TV