When Merck pulled Vioxx from the shelves last September, a legal feeding frenzy unlike any other we’ve seen to date was set into high gear.  Unfortunately, we’ve fully come to expect that the first response to a public health concern, real or not, will be mass litigation.

 

To get a flavor for how personal injury lawyers are fishing for future clients, we just have to follow the advertisements.   One headline reads: “$18,000,000,000 Expected in Vioxx Damages. Download Free Info Pack Now!” Another website claims “Most Vioxx patients and their families do not want to go through the pressure associated with going to court and having a full trial. While we can’t guarantee there will be no trial, lawyers work hard to settle the cases without going to trial. However, it is important to realize that the threat of trial is what brings the maximum amount of compensation, so it is essential to prepare a case with this in mind.”

 

Let me be clear: not one of us wants people to be hurt by unsafe products, and anyone that is truly injured deserves justice.  But when lawsuits are filed out of greed instead of justice, and personal injury lawyers and unharmed plaintiffs threaten justice for the truly injured, our legal system is being abused.  And lawsuit abuse has certainly impacted healthcare in our nation.

 

No part of our healthcare system is safe from attack. Everyone from doctors, to hospitals to the makers of our medicines is being sued.  In California, we have benefited from MICRA, which has capped non-economic damages on medical malpractice.  But, as we are witnessing through Vioxx and other drug-related litigation and lawsuits against makers of medical devices, malpractice is only one of the trial attorneys’ many healthcare targets.   

 

That is why Citizens against Lawsuit Abuse has launched a campaign titled Sick of Lawsuits.   We’re sick of lawsuits, and we think healthcare consumers are too. 

 

It’s the patients who ultimately are hurt by these abusive lawsuits.  Healthcare delivery today must not only be appropriate for the patient, but it must minimize the potential for litigation.  The end result is time and money spent on “defensive medicine,” which may yield little to no benefit to the patient.  And we all pay the price in higher costs for healthcare, less access to care and slowed medical innovation. Abusive lawsuits and the fear of lawsuits are jeopardizing the healthcare we all depend upon.

 

In the 90’s I was named as a member of a class action lawsuit against a computer manufacturer. I was not asked if my name could be added nor if I wanted to participate in this suit.

 

I had surely not suffered any damages or been harmed in anyway. But my name was added to the list anyway.  I ended up receiving a coupon for a whopping $6, the lawyers walked with $5.8 million.  Is that justice?

 

In February I was invited to the White House to attend the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 bill signing with President Bush.  I was honored to represent CALA and all victims of greedy personal injury attorneys at this historic event.  

 

The President has made tort reform a priority in his second term, including medical liability reform based on the California model.  These are important issues, and CALA will continue to push for reform of our civil justice system.  However, this is not one person’s or group’s battle.  Please take a moment to visit www.sickoflawsuits.org, sign up to JOIN THE FIGHT against out of control trial lawyers. Help us take back control of our judicial system, ensuring that health care providers can continue to do what they were trained to do.