Our system of civil justice rests on the fundamental and time-honored principle that a person harmed by the carelessness of another is entitled to compensation for the injury. Today, as has been the case for many years, businesses and professionals maintain liability insurance to cover losses caused by their negligence. Liability insurance protects the injured as well as the insured. The system works. Most cases are settled fairly and those that must be tried are submitted to a jury of citizens. Fraudulent insurance cases exist, but they are a small fraction of claims, properly dealt with like any other through investigation and prosecution, the same as any other monetary fraud.

Medical malpractice is simply a form of professional negligence. Doctors can and do soothe, heal, and save lives. Under the pressure of managed care, hospital cost-cutting, and the increasingly business-like practice of medicine, doctors also make careless mistakes. When they happen, they can be devastating. A look at some of the medical malpractice cases I have handled provides a sampling of the type of anguish a careless medical error can cause – brain damage to an infant, death of a beloved wife and mother, death of a father, life-long physical disability to an infant. Doctors and their insurers (primarily their insurers) argue that physicians should receive a pass from the ordinary workings of the civil justice system. They propose ingenious devices, such as caps on damages, to limit the recovery by people injured by medical negligence, regardless of how severe the harm or extreme the carelessness.

The medical insurer’s ace-in-the hole, however, is their claim that medical malpractice actions are driving the costs of premiums so high that doctors are being driven out of business. The insurance industry supports this claim with anectodal reports, never an analysis of the facts. The claim is the big lie of the insurance industry. Malpractice suits have remained relatively constant in numbers over the last several years and are not a cause of premium increases. Rather, it is the investment strategies and accounting practices of the insurance industry that causes them to cry “poor” whenever the financial markets are in a bearish period. An independent study by the Government Accounting Office (the “GAO”) concluded that medical malpractice suits were not the cause of either rising premiums or any alleged “doctor flight” (see the entire study at: GAO Medical Malpractice Report.)

If you or a loved one is ever injured severely by medical malpractice, your only remedy is in our civil justice system. The system belongs to all of us. It is one of America’s great contributions. We should respect it and preserve it.

Safety over profits is a fundamental principle with which every retailer must abide. Unfortunately, the “big box” stores sprinkle their convenience with a high dose of greed, causing sometimes lethal results to customers. Falling merchandise injuries and deaths is a little-known nation-wide scandal. In order to maximize profits, the warehouse stores often stack too high and too densely, with no or inadequate barriers to prevent heavy merchandise falling from top shelves. In addition, staff are often underpaid and undertrained, leading to a dangerous situation for customers. These stores keep detailed computer databases of all injuries and so are aware of the hazards they create. Unless and until they are stopped by government regulations or large jury awards to consumers injured by their irresponsible practices, unsafe shelving will continue to injure, maim and kill.

Follow the links below to read just a few articles about this problem:

"Sky Shelves can be Lethal to Shoppers" - LA TIMES 8-16-2000

"Retailers Feel Crunched" - Bloomberg Business News

"Falling Merchandise: A Safety Issue You should Know About" - ATLA

"Stack it High and Let it Fly" - Longwoods Publishing Company