Health Care Press Releases & Statements

Corporate Wrongdoers Lose Effort to Evade Responsibility; Washington State Voters Reject Initiative 330

November 21— On Election Day, November 8, voters in Washington State, like voters in Oregon and Wyoming in November 2004, rejected attempts by powerful corporations to limit the ability of patients to hold negligent corporations accountable. Full Press Release

House Passes Giveaway to Pharmaceutical and Insurance Industries

July 28— Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed a medical malpractice bill (H.R. 5) that does nothing to help doctors with high insurance rates but gives sweeping liability protections to drug companies that knowingly market deadly drugs like Vioxx. Full Press Release

Caps on Medical Malpractice Damages Unconstitutional, Wisconsin Supreme Court

July 14— Today the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the state's caps on non-economic (so-called pain and suffering) damages in medical malpractice cases, saying they bear no "rational" relationship to lower malpractice insurance premiums. The Court also called such limits "unreasonable and arbitrary" because they negatively impact the most severely injured patients. Wisconsin is the 14th state to strike down caps as unconstitutional. Full Press Release

Republican Testimony Before Small Business Committee Shows Access to Justice is Not a Partisan Issue

June 21— Mississippi trial lawyer Wil Colom, co-chair of AAJ's Republican Caucus, presented a conservative case against limits on compensation for medical malpractice victims at a House Small Business Committee hearing June 14, demonstrating that ensuring all Americans have access to justice is an issue that cuts across party lines. Full Press Release

Santorum Over-Estimates Trial Lawyer Influence on Medical Malpractice Bill, Makes Up Facts About Health Care Costs

April 19— "Sen. Santorum was also reported as saying rising health care costs are being driven by 'a runaway system of litigation.' He’s wrong again, which the Congressional Budget Office would tell him if he’d wander down the hall and ask." Full Statement

Lawsuits by Rep. Tom DeLay and Sen. Rick Santorum Show Hypocrisy about Civil Justice System

March 30— In a hypocritical case of 'Do as I say, not as I sue,' two leading proponents of the drive to strip Americans of their legal rights – Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) – participated in personal injury lawsuits filed by their families. Full Statement

All AAJ Press Releases