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Welcome to Sue City, USA Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Editor-in-Chief
US News & World Report, June 15, 2003 This editorial by US News & World Report Editor-in-Chief Mortimer B. Zuckerman echoes Common Good's message on America’s lawsuit culture.
"Teachers who are firm with badly behaved students know all too well that they run the risk of being sued by parents who smell money more than they seek justice. Nobody can be sure that reason will prevail since juries produce dramatically different conclusions from one case to the next. Doctors are so worried about protecting themselves from potential lawsuits that they prescribe medicines and order unnecessary tests and procedures that amount to an estimated $100 billion a year. Why? So they have a legal defense if they're sued. Some doctors, unwilling to play that game, have abandoned the practice of medicine. This is not the rule of law. It is the fear of law. And it affects our lives in profound ways."
US News also adopts Common Good’s call for medical courts highlighting the need for a new system of medical justice.
"The Bush administration is committed to tort reform. It has proposed capping jury "pain and suffering" awards in medical malpractice suits at $250,000, limiting punitive damages and lawyers' contingency fees. Democrats oppose these proposals, on the grounds that no restrictions should be placed on any injured American's right to sue. We can all agree that one injured medical patient is one too many. But one falsely accused doctor is one too many, as well. Somehow, we must restore a sense of responsibility, and of proportion.
To do so, we must create a new system of medical justice. Clearly, we want to distinguish between good care and bad care, but juries have limited appreciation of the scientific issues and are not much helped by expert witnesses endlessly contradicting each other. We could, instead, rely on independent panels answerable to the court. We might also penalize those who bring frivolous lawsuits, have damages set by judges rather than by juries, and make the losing party pay the legal expenses of the winner."
Zuckerman also stresses the high social cost of putting individual rights over collective responsibility and concludes that "[s]omehow, we must restore a sense of responsibility, and of proportion" to the legal system.
This editorial is no longer available online.
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