Tort reform: Another number

[womzilla]

One of the many policies pursued by the forces which occupy the US government is medical malpractice tort reform. They have argued that high medical malpractice payments are driving up the cost of medical care to the point where people cannot afford health insurance.

They are, for the most part, lying. Dwight Meredith has written a couple of very good short articles about the numbers involved; I particularly recommend the second one ("Scare Tactics Part II") because of what it says about the amount of darkness being shed on the issue:

Please note that in constant 2002 dollars, the total payments from both judgments and settlements in med mal cases for the entire twelve year period from 1990 through 2002 was about $44 billion or about one-half of what Jane thought was plausible for a single year.

Jane Galt is very smart, has a very good education, reads a lot and is well informed. How can it be that she was off by a factor of 16 or 20 on such a basic point as the total payouts for medical malpractice cases?

Comments

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

When lies form a significant part of a public debate, there are usually a handful of aggressive liars and a large number of more or less gulliable dupes. It can be tricky to argue with the dupes. They're vectors for big, dangerous, lies...but they didn't invent them, and they aren't guilty of anything worse than a little sloppy thinking. Sometimes not even that, if the lies are outrageous enough.

One thing that's useful to ask is WHY the lies are being invented. Who benefits from this distortion? (Not just the specific medical malpractice lies, but the lies surrounding the more general tort-reform debate.) There are situations where people (corporate officers, doctors, insurance representatives) really did behave with appalling irresponsibility, and other people really did get badly hurt in consequence...and there's a group that wants the public to think this sort of thing is laughable. And not the proper business of the legal system at all. It's worth stopping to wonder why, even when they're telling you a story that pushes your buttons and makes you want to believe it emotionally.