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ATLA: Senate Votes to Put Patients’ Rights Ahead of Big Insurance Company Profits

(Monday, May 8, 2006 -Washington DC)—For the seventh time since 2002, the Senate on Monday rejected anti-patient legislation that would have capped awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases at $250,000, resulting in demands that the upper chamber abandon the ill-conceived proposal and focus on issues of greater importance to Americans. In fact, proponents of this insurance company special interest bill could not even muster 50 votes in the Senate.

“Those who sided with patients had both the facts and the public on their side,’’ said Ken Suggs, President of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. “The proponents, like Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), sold out their constituents and patients to pay back friends in the insurance industry who are bankrolling their campaigns. They failed.’’

The legislation would have imposed a one-size-fits-all answer to all medical malpractice claims, limiting non-economic damages to $250,000, regardless of the pain inflicted as the result of medical negligence or the extent of physical damage. Women mistakenly rendered sterile, as well as people who had healthy limbs removed, would be afforded the same amount for pain and suffering as someone with decidedly lesser injuries.

“This one-size-fits-all approach is unfair to victims and limits their ability to hold wrongdoers accountable, letting those who are negligent off the hook for providing inadequate care,” said Suggs.

Although Frist, the Senate majority leader from Tennessee, who fought for the legislation as part of what he characterized as Health Week, the bill failed to address any health issue and completely ignored the ongoing problem of medical errors. An Institute of Medicine study determined that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die every year as the result of preventable medical errors. And just last month, USA Today reported that wrong-site surgeries – when a surgeon operates on the wrong side of a patient or amputates the wrong limb – are on the rise. Despite the obvious problem, the bill addressed none of this.

During the debate, proponents, led by Frist and Santorum, offered nothing in the way of factual evidence to support the claim that medical malpractice suits were driving up insurance premiums, forcing doctors to leave the profession. Data provided by the American Medical Association established that the number of doctors is rising, not declining – since 1990, the number of physicians has grown by 40 percent while the U.S. population has grown 18 percent. A number of studies have shown that the insurance industry’s concern over profit margins was the culprit in high malpractice premiums.

That lack of hard evidence led bill’s proponents to distort the facts and scare the public into submission by providing misleading information. But a poll sponsored by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, released April 26 by GarinHartYang Research Group, showed that their campaign of misinformation is not working - 59 percent of those questioned believe that there are more important issues for the Senate to consider, while 84 percent said the place more trust in a judge and jury to determine who much an injured patient should receive for pain and suffering than Congress.

ATLA and ATLA PAC aired television ads in Montana and Pennsylvania to draw the public’s attention to the issue, placed ads on selected web sites, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and even created a web site to highlight Santorum’s support for the measure – www.trickyrickysantorum.org.

“The public said enough is enough - abandon this sorry excuse for legislation once and for all and instead consider issues that are vital to our nation.’’

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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.