the trial lawyers WISH that were true the lege is owned by the insurance and business lobbies. It was when Democrats ruled the lege, and it's worse now that Republicans rule it. But the doctors have always owned the Republicans, and now that means they own the lege.
this is the biggest load of smelly crap that Republicans love to throw out there. Where do you get this idea? There is no truth to this at all, it is all a part of the FEAR program of Republicans to wipe out all traces of compassion, sympathy, and common sense from our lives.
The legislature already passed caps on non-economic damages. It went into affect Sept. 1, 2003. If the medical boards would pull the liscenses of the 5% of doctors that make up the over 1/3rd of the malpractice payouts, then it would be more clear to everyone that this is an insurance company power grab. Lobbyists for insurance companies want to pressure the legislature into limiting awards not just for doctors, but for large corporations who are deemed negligent as well. Here is a (partial) list if the groups who are backing Prop 12. Texans for Lawsuit Reform - special interest lobby representing big construction, chemical, oil and gas companies. Texas Health Care Assoc - a lobby that represents large for profit Nursing home corporations. Texas Civil Justice League- Lobby group representing the oil and gas industry. Members include Halliburton, Conoco, and Shell Oil. Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse - a non-profit orrganization that actually represents the interests of big tobacco, chemical companies, and accounting firms. Texas Medical Liability Trust - The largest medical malpractice insurer in the state of Texas. Partial List of Organizations Opposed to Proposition 12: AARP ADAPT AFL-CIO American Association of University Women, Texas American Civil Liberties Union, Texas American G.I. Forum of Texas ARC of Texas Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence United with the Million Mom March Brownsville Firefighters Association Brownsville Law Enforcement Union Coalition of Texans with Disabilities Common Cause Texas Corpus Christi Firefighters Association Dallas Police Association Edinburgh United Police Officers Association El Paso Municipal Police Association Family Crisis Center – Brownsville Family Crisis Center – Harlingen Galveston Municipal Police Association G.I. Forum – Houston Hidalgo Adult Probation Officers' Association Hidalgo County Constable's Association Hidalgo County Deputy Sheriff's Association Houston Police Association Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings Laredo Fire Fighters Association League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Texas McAllen Police Officers Union Mission Police Association Mothers Against Drunk Driving—MADD National Citizen’s Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR) Paz y Amor Senior Daycare Center People for the American Way Retirees Council AFL-CIO Rio Grande Valley Policeman's Association Rio Grande Valley Teachers Association Rio Grande Valley Labor Council Senior Companion Program of Hidalgo County (nonprofit services) Senior Political Action Committee Sierra Club South Texas Organization of Police (STOP) Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio Texans for Public Justice Texas Advocates Texas Advocates for Nursing Home Residents Texas Association Against Sexual Assault Texas Assoc. Persons Supported Employment Texas Black Bass Unlimited Texas Civil Rights Project Texas Council on Family Violence Texas Eagle Forum Texas Families for Children's Mental Health Texas Federation of Teachers Texas Mental Health Consumers Texas NAACP Texas Public Interest Research Group Texas Public Citizen Texas Watch Texas Welfare Reform The Gray Panthers The Older Women’s League (OWL) United Farm Workers (UFW) We Will Not Forget SAJE Weslaco Law Enforcement Association Women’s Shelter of East Texas Women Together Foundation I'm inclined to believe the second list as opposed to the corporate interests, but I'm just a Yellow Dog Dem...
What a joke. Let's see whose support do I most desire on the issue of saving our healthcare system: The Sierra Club The NAACP? The Gray Panthers? or DOCTORS This is not a hard choice.
The biggest joke of all is that Prop 12 flies in the face of true conservatism, yet the conservative wing of the Republican party is behind it hook line and sinker. Someone who adheres to conservative ideology rather than blind allegiance to the Republican party would be against Prop 12, and I know many who are.
This guy is a nobody compared to the guy who you compared to Barbara Streisand the other day. http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64203 I guess that a guy based in Waco who worked at Baylor and SMU is ever so much more qualified than Paul Krugman, who is a PhD economist and is a professor of economics AND international affairs at Princeton, for crying out loud. Your sourcing needs some work.
sigh so now this Prop 12 has ballooned into "saving our healthcare system" ? what a bunch of crap how about we put forth a realistic Prop that actually will help the Doctors and patients: -> putting caps on the amount of money drug companies can charge for prescription drugs
Show me Paul Krugman's analysis of Prop 12 and then perhaps you have a relevant comparison. Oh, you don't have Paul's analysis? Then I'm sorry, but we will have to dismiss your comparison as irrelevant.
It's NOT NOT NOT just about doctors. We are talking about the limitations that anyone can sue corporations for as well. You wanna save doctors? Then we need to limit the amount that INSURANCE COMPANIES can charge doctors for malpractice insurance. Also we need to make sure that the TMA pulls the liscence of crap doctors who get sued and lose multiple malpractice cases. Do you SERIOUSLY think that the insurance company is going to lower malpractice insurance rates if this bill passes? You are kidding yourself.
Yes I do, and so do all of the DOCTORS that intend to vote Yes on Saturday. If you take this drastic action that you are advocating against the insurance firms, they will up and leave the state. If this were to occur, there would be *very* few specialists willing to practice in Texas, which would DESTROY our healthcare system. If you do not think that the economics of practicing medicine impacts the quality of doctors that choose to practice in Texas, then you are DEAD WRONG. Save our healthcare system. Stop runaway juries from awarding Jim Adler's clients with lottery-sized jackpots. These jackpots are crippling the doctors that our children will one day need.
No, there are shades of grey even in this. ...and who pay less than 3% (on average) of their revenues for insurance in case they destroy someone's life. Get out of here with your empty catch phrases. Trial lawyers need to be limited. If it were up to me, the lawyer would get around 10% if that. The point is that this amendment is not the best way to reform the system. I support doctors, but I also support the right for a judge to limit what a jury award much more than I trust the legislature. Politicians will use the power for politics and people will suffer. Puh-leaze. Litigation is not a lottery. My wife saw her father die of leukemia from washing his hands with benzine every day for 30 years at Dow Chemical. They didn't even get a hearing despite having a (company) doctor who detected anomalies in his blood work ten years earlier. Litigation is not a lottery, judges ultimately have the power. Appellate courts set aside judgements all the time. If a verdict is too high, it gets set down. And it takes a lot more than a baseless claim to beat a big corporation or an insurance company in court.
Jim Adler is a no-talent Azz Clown. He couldn't find the courthouse with a map. He's a marketer who signs up cases and has an army of people to work and settle them. Most of his cases are at the shallow end of the dollar pool. his clients don't win the lottery.
TJ, I'm just curious. It may help me understand your point of view. Do you work in the medical field? Do you personally know a lot of doctors? Do you know what the supply / demand or application / acceptance rate to medical school is these days? Do you know what the requirements to go to Medical School in Texas are? Are you aware of the programs out in there in Texas universities to ensure that the best and brightest get into Texas medical schools are?
How the heck do you limit the amount insurance companies can charge? It is a free market. If you limit the amount, then you will simply have uninsured doctors. That is crazy. You keep mentioning the TMA pulling licenses, do you really think this will solve the issue? How many bad doctors are there? While they may not lower insurance rates, costs will be kept under control. That has been proven where this law is in effect in other stats.
There are ALOT of bad doctors out there. We would be far better off confiscating doctor's licenses than turn the separation of powers component of our government on its metaphorical head.
You basically cut your own argument off at the knees. The problem is not occasional jackpot jury awards (which are like lightning strikes), but the multitude of everyday frivolous suits filed in the hopes that the plaintiffs can shake down the doctor/insurance company so they don't have to pay the "ten of thousands of dollars" defending the frivolous suit in the first place. These frivolous suits are seldom the ones that end up with the jackpot jury awards, so Prop 12 does nothing to solve this problem. Some kind of loser pays system would be a better solution.
Never thought I would say this to you, but I agree fully. I am glad to see that some conservatives can see through the BS that both sides are throwing out there.
my conscience requires me to speak, even if it is in defense of the dang doctors. the 5% of the doctors causing 33% of the losses is NOT surprising. that's because 2/3 of the doctors don't DO things that will get them sued for much. As in every field, some are more risky than others. Child Birth and surgery, for example, are where momentary lapses of good skills can result in a castastrophic loss. You can't get rid of the 5% or you would lose many good doctors. A guy makes a mistake, and it's negligent. Someone else suffers horribly. Isn't this exactly what we want insurance to do, to make it right by paying the hurt guy? You can't get rid of a doctor because he makes a mistake, cuts something he shouldn't have, doesn't recognize a symptom he should have. I'm all in favor of limiting punitives, but let's award attorney's fees to the plaintiffs who win. That would allow us to create an alternative to the current contingency fee system, which I have trouble with, too.
