Pennsylvania recently amended its long-standing law regarding joint and several liablity. Joint and several liability applies when more than one party is responsible for an injury. Under the old law, any party at least one percent at fault was jointly and individually liable for all of the damages. This protected the injured victim when the most responsible party had insufficient insurance or assets. This has now changed with the recent amendments. The joint and several liability amendments limit the liability of a defendant who is less than 60% at fault to his proportionate share of liability. Under the amendments’ language, however, … [Read more...]
Why Not Cap Hospital CEO Salaries Too?
April 4, 2011 by
Governor Cuomo of New York has proposed to cap medical malpractice awards at $250,000. A New York legislator, Deborah Glick, has submitted a bill capping hospital CEO salaries at $250,000 also. If $250,000 is enough to cover a lifetime for a medical error, according to Ms. Glick, then it should be enough for a CEO's yearly salary. What a refreshing idea! … [Read more...]
Hot Coffee Director: Tort Deform Myths
March 16, 2011 by
Check out this interview with the director of Hot Coffee. This film debunks the myth that there are too many frivolous lawsuits. Every consumer should watch this movie before being tricked by the propaganda of the insurance industry and Chamber of Commerce. Hot Coffee Interview: … [Read more...]
Tort Reform Laws Don’t Lower Healthcare Costs
May 28, 2010 by
Medical providers, their professional associations, and lobbyists often claim that limiting recoveries in malpractice lawsuits will lower healthcare costs. This is called tort reform, or as some of us like to refer to it, tort deform. In 2004, Ohio passed a law limiting verdicts for pain and suffering to $250,000 except in catastrophic cases, restricting punitive damages and making it harder to take a case to trial. Healthcare costs have continued to increase there despite this legislation. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, by 2008 the average family healthcare premiums were $11,425, an increase of 19%. … [Read more...]
