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

(Tuesday, June 21)—Mississippi trial lawyer Wil Colom, co-chair of ATLA'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.

While some in the media caricature the debate about the tort system as trial lawyers vs. the Republican establishment, the reality is that the civil justice system has passionate defenders on both sides of the aisle.

Many Republican members of the House and Senate were trial lawyers before entering public service, and more than 30% of members of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America are Republicans. It has been bipartisan opposition to limits on medical malpractice victims that has kept anti-patient medical liability bills from advancing in a Republican-controlled Congress.

Colom, the founding partner of The Colom Law Firm, was invited by the committee to testify on the issue of medical liability and has a long history of Republican political involvement. He served on Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran's first campaign committee, Ronald Reagan's Presidential Transition Team, and the Mississippi Republican Executive Committee. Colom ran unsuccessfully for Mississippi State Treasurer as the Republican Nominee and was a George W. Bush delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention.

Colom made a number of important and well-received points about medical malpractice to the committee:

• There is no explosion in medical malpractice claims or payouts. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, total malpractice payments increased by only 1.7% annually between 1991 and 2003, when adjusted for medical care inflation.

• The number of practicing physicians in the United States is in fact rising, again according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Between 1992 and 2003, the number of physicians rose 31%, from 623,378 to 814,909.

• Caps on non-economic damages discriminate against children and senior citizens. "Caps on non-economic damages-which are designed to compensate people for their injuries-hurt people who are not in the workforce, such as children and senior citizens, and those who do not have high lost wages or salary (economic loss)," he testified.

• Limits on compensation for the injuries suffered by medical malpractice victims ultimately shifts costs to the taxpayer. "When low wage earners with little or no health insurance are injured by medical negligence, they are forced to go on public assistance and taxpayers bear the brunt of the necessary medical care. Why should all taxpayers, rather than those responsible for the injury, bear the burden of the cost?" Colom asked the committee.

• The insurance industry admits that caps won't lower premiums. "We have not promised price reductions with tort reform," American Insurance Association spokesperson Dennis Kelly has said.

Colom told the committee that, "There is no medical liability crisis—only a premium crisis," and concluded with a call for insurance reform:

"It is clear, Mr. Chairman, that we agree that good doctors are paying too much for their malpractice insurance premiums, but we disagree on the cause and the solution. It is my recommendation that we look to the insurance companies' role in this. The evidence proves that lawsuits are not the case. Lawsuits and lawyers have become easy and convenient political targets to blame.

"Frankly, the insurance company pointing at lawsuits as the cause of high premiums is much like a quarterback faking a pitch: Its only purpose is misdirection. The only question for us is whether we are going to fall for it."

Full Statement of Wilbur Colom, Attorney at Law, The Colom Law Firm, Before the House Small Business Committee, June 14, 2005

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As the world's largest trial bar, ATLA promotes justice and fairness for injured persons, defends the constitutional right to trial by jury, and strengthens the civil justice system through education and disclosure of information critical to public health and safety. With 60,000 members worldwide, ATLA provides lawyers with the information and professional assistance they need to serve clients successfully and protect the democratic values of the civil justice system.