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Trial Lawyers & Health Care Reform
Posted by: Larry Lapidus
September 30, 2009
Topic: Trial Lawyers & Health Care Reform

Trial Lawyers & Health Care Reform

By: Anthony Tarricone President

American Association for Justice

August was quite the month in the ongoing health care saga. Death panels. Scaring seniors. Angry mobs discovering new villains to blame for the terrible health care system we find ourselves having to fix today.

And then we have the tried-and-tested scapegoat for all of America's ills and woes: trial lawyers.

Let's face it: Trial lawyers - and all attorneys, for that matter - aren't revered by the public at large (unless you need one). But for those who want to stick it to the trial bar, this bill is your chance.

We can lower costs, help cover the uninsured and even put trial lawyers out of business.

No, it's not tort reform. We're demanding solutions that actually work.

And preventing medical errors in the first place - an epidemic that plagues our entire health care system - will result in less litigation, lower costs and healthier patients.

Let's cut the wheat from the chaff: Tort reform will do nothing to fix health care. Forty-six states have already done it, and costs have continued to skyrocket. The Congressional Budget Office and Government Accountability Office have said tort reform will save practically no money, and they found no evidence of defensive medicine. Medical malpractice suits are less than 1 percent of all civil filings - and this has declined 8 percent during the past decade. The research is definitive and absolute, and those claiming otherwise are just trying to obstruct health care reform altogether.

More than 98,000 people die every year from preventable medical errors, according to the Institute of Medicine. That report is 10 years old, and estimates are the number has gotten significantly worse. This is the equivalent of two 737s crashing every day for a whole year. If planes were crashing like this today, would we focus on giving airlines immunity or making air travel safer?

So this is how you really put trial lawyers out of business: Just cut down on the errors. Fewer errors mean fewer complications - or fewer people who will need legal recourse. Electronic medical records, bar-coding equipment, tagging surgical instruments and routine operating room checklists are just a few measures that can decrease errors. And there are countless more that can corral this epidemic and make patient safety a priority once again.

In the past few weeks, some pundits or talking heads have demanded to know, "What have the trial lawyers sacrificed to get health care passed?" But this isn't about trial lawyers. It's about patients, hurt through no fault of their own, left with debilitating injuries or worse.

This bill is about health care, not bargaining away people's legal rights.

But health care reform may still provide ample opportunity to put away the trial bar. We would welcome it. Fewer people who need legal recourse means injuries are more infrequent and health care is getting safer.

But taking away people's legal rights is the entirely wrong way to do it. That's saying it is acceptable for 98,000 people to die every year, with thousands more injured, because of preventable medical errors. And that's also saying it is OK to dictate what their lives are worth or whether they should have any recourse at all. Such a proposition is ridiculous.

We welcome a health care system that has fewer injuries, safer patients and lower costs. But bargaining away people's legal rights isn't a suitable alternative. That isn't a bill we can call health care or reform.

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Surgical Accident
Posted by: Larry Lapidus
August 11, 2009
Topic: Surgical Accidents

On July 9, 20 year-old Airman Colton Read underwent routine surgery on his gallbladder. During surgery, however, a relatively inexperienced doctor nicked his aorta, resulting ultimately, in the loss of both his legs. This tragedy has helped to shine new light on the Feres doctrine, which prevents active-duty members of the military from filing suit for medical negligence.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram's story is available here:

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Rush to Justice
Posted by: Larry Lapidus
July 01, 2009
Topic: A Rush to Justice

My action in filing suit on behalf of a Metro Crash Train victim was the first suit to be filed in court arising from the Metro Train Crash Tragedy. Some other lawyers, accumstomed to holding cases for long periods of time before filing suit, were critical for obvious reasons.

My clients were delighted and suit was filed of course with their express permission. When the media reported on the lawsuit, some members of the public became critical, but other were supportive. Here are the supportive comments:

This lawyer knows from experience that Metro negotiates settlements in bad faith, which is why the lawsuit was filed sooner rather than later. 

Just remember one thing. Lawrence Lapidus has repeatedly sued Metro for his clients and has won. His reputation is national, and he is repeatedly rated as one of the best attorneys in the country at his speciality. He has also won numerous, multi-million dollar settlements and lawsuits for his clients. Obviously, he must be doing something right.

Filing lawsuits sooner rather than later is customary, when a complainant has a claim against any party with a reputation for bad-faith negotiating.

I further disagree that it is prudent to delay filing suit, until investigations are complete, although I do understand your logic. The advantage of filing sooner is that:

1) Facts are still fresh on the minds of prospective witnesses;
2) It deprives Metro of time needed to destroy incriminating evidence of negligence;
3) It deprives Metro of time needed to coach Metro employees on how Metro wants them to perjure their testimony; and
4) There exists ample evidence of Metro's history of negligence that any need to await the outcome of this particular investigation is less important than it would be if Metro had no history of negligence.

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Metro Train Crash
Posted by: Larry Lapidus
June 30, 2009
Topic: Metro Train Crash

Incredibly, some personal injury lawyers who are promoting their expertise in handling Metro cases have all ready taken a defeatist approach to the case and have publicly stated that they will not file suit until the National Safety Transportation Board completes its study, which will take a year or more. They ignore evidence that not one passenger felt the train slow down. The obvious conclusion is that by the time the operator pushed the emergency brakes, it was too late to stop the train. And how about the failure of the automated system? Why did it not function appropriately? Metro clearly has put monetary concerns over safety consideration by not modernizing its fleet of rail vehicles and taken other steps to ensure the safety of its passengers.

In my firm, we do not think there is any substitute for vigorous representation. This litigation is not for the timid. If you are considering hiring a lawyer for injuries you received in the crash or a loved one who died, ask any lawyer you consult, "when will you file suit in my case?"

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A Warning For Medicaid Beneficiaries Traveling Out of State
Posted by: Larry Lapidus
April 06, 2009
Topic: A Warning For Medicaid Beneficiaries Traveling Out of State

I am grateful to my colleague, Sheri R. Abrams, a disability attorney in Northern Virginia, for permission to re-publish on this blog the following article from her newsletter. Ms. Abrams is a disability lawyer who handles social security disability claims. She can be contacted at sheri@sheriabrams.com

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