RangelMD on Tort Reform in Texas
Posted by Clark Venable on 5/14/2006
Texas enacted caps on medical malpractice awards in 2003. The debate there on whether these caps are good or have been responsible for the drop in new malpractice cases by 60%-80% continues.
"Obviously the need is to reduce legal costs, increase ease and access to the system, increase efficiency and speed of proceedings so that justified compensation finds its way to the plaintiff with all deliberate speed, and establish much more consistency in finding fault and awarding compensation. One solution is the establishment of special health courts where neutral expert witnesses would be hired by the court, judges or panels would hand down judgments, and guidelines would be in place for the determining of fault and compensation.
It's easy to see why trial lawyers oppose special health courts because their roles would be significantly reduced. A system like this would be far less susceptible to such intangibles as the fickle mood of a jury or the charisma of the lawyer. We've been talking for years about reducing costs and improving access to health care. Maybe it's about time we started doing the same with our tort system. Proposition 12 may have been the first small step in that direction."
It's easy to see why trial lawyers oppose special health courts because their roles would be significantly reduced. A system like this would be far less susceptible to such intangibles as the fickle mood of a jury or the charisma of the lawyer. We've been talking for years about reducing costs and improving access to health care. Maybe it's about time we started doing the same with our tort system. Proposition 12 may have been the first small step in that direction."
[RangelMD]
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