Recently, I came across an article published by the U.S.Chamber of Commerce entitled “The ‘Not My Fault’ Crowd”. The article attempts to deceive readers, by suggesting that lawyers and the cases they file on behalf of their injured clients, cause harm to Americans by way of higher prices for products, courtrooms jammed with frivilous lawsuits and the erosion of bedrock American principles. Not surprisingly, these claims are not supported by any facts in the article. The truth is, the facts support just the opposite.
As pointed out by one author: In the fantasy world concocted by the Chamber, the trial lawyer is ruining the U.S. economy by attempting to “manipulate the civil justice system by inflaming the passions of juries, entreating them to ‘send a message’ to corporate headquarters, resulting in excessive verdicts . . . .”1 “Mad-dog” lawyers, abetted by serial plaintiffs hunting for someone to sue at every opportunity, are allegedly killing research and development and leading multinational corporations to cower in fear.
It would be inaccurate to assert that the Chamber is alone in dreaming up this fable. Doctors, reeling from high malpractice insurance premiums, are practically begging Congress and state legislatures to pull the reins on trial lawyers, insisting that suits challenging physicians’ practices are driving up the cost of medical care.
Their claims are patently absurd. Data collated by the American Medical Association establishes that the number of doctors is increasing, not declining, even in so-called high-risk fields, like obstetrics and gynecology. Studies, like the one conducted by former Missouri Insurance Commissioner Jay Angoff for the Center for Justice and Democracy, show that high med-mal premiums are tied to poor insurance industry investments, not litigation costs.2
The insurance industry, the real culprit in the malpractice insurance scam, is working feverishly to cover its own tracks, scurrilously blaming trial lawyers for driving doctors out of business and creating a health care “crisis.” In that, they are much like the Wizard of Oz when he says, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”
The Chamber of Commerce talks about “personal responsibilty” Yet when it comes to accepting responsibility for injuring innocent victims, they want nothing to do with the responsibilty of compensating the injured. Why? They believe in profit over people.
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