Lawsuit reform has been good for Texas. A recent commentary to the contrary on this page failed to include some very important facts.
Let’s begin with a quick review of the history. In 1994, when Texans for Lawsuit Reform was founded, Texas civil courts were a national laughingstock, known to be notoriously unfair and a huge deterrent to businesses that wanted to grow and expand.
The Wall Street Journal called Texas the “lawsuit capital of the world” and 60 Minutes produced a segment entitled, “Justice for Sale” in Texas. Lloyds of London imposed an insurance surcharge on any company that did business in Texas because of the high probability and excessive cost of lawsuits.
Doctors were retiring early, closing their high risk specialties like obstetrics and neurosurgery, or fleeing the state because of lawsuit abuse. The lack of fairness and honesty in our civil justice system was not only blocking economic growth, it was also destroying public faith in our legal system.
Today, Texas has become a national tort reform model. Reforms passed in Texas dramatically increased the total number of doctors in our state — especially high risk specialists — by lowering medical liability insurance costs by as much as 50 percent and by reducing the threat that doctors will spend more days in court than treating patients.
Before the reforms, 24 Texas counties had no emergency room physician. Now they do. Another 58 counties have added at least one more emergency room physician to expand access to care. Twelve counties had no licensed obstetrician. Now they do. And another 26 counties have at least one more obstetrician than they had prior to the reforms. Twelve Texas counties have added at least one orthopedic surgeon including seven counties that previously had none. In Lamar County, the population has increased about 2 percent since the reforms were enacted in 2003, while the number of doctors has increased by 7 percent.
Tort reforms do not deny a citizen’s right to his or her day in court, but they do help to mitigate the threat of meritless lawsuits that drive up the cost of medicine without any demonstrable improvement in quality. When nervous doctors are forced to practice defensive medicine it drives up the cost. Ask your own doctor — and get ready for a long conversation.
The economic benefits to Texas of systemic lawsuit reform go far beyond health care. Common sense reforms like putting an end to judge shopping, reforming joint and several liability, capping punitive damages, reining in abusive class action lawsuits, and curbing asbestos and silica lawsuit abuse have helped strengthen the Texas economy, even in these tough times. It is no coincidence that our state created more jobs in the last two years than the other 49 states combined.
Texans for Lawsuit Reform is a bi-partisan, volunteer-led coalition with more than 17,000 supporters residing in 857 Texas communities and representing 1,266 different businesses, professions and trades. We invite you to visit www.tortreform.com, and read the entire story.
Sherry Sylvester is senior communications advisor to Texans for Lawsuit Reform.
Let’s begin with a quick review of the history. In 1994, when Texans for Lawsuit Reform was founded, Texas civil courts were a national laughingstock, known to be notoriously unfair and a huge deterrent to businesses that wanted to grow and expand.
The Wall Street Journal called Texas the “lawsuit capital of the world” and 60 Minutes produced a segment entitled, “Justice for Sale” in Texas. Lloyds of London imposed an insurance surcharge on any company that did business in Texas because of the high probability and excessive cost of lawsuits.
Doctors were retiring early, closing their high risk specialties like obstetrics and neurosurgery, or fleeing the state because of lawsuit abuse. The lack of fairness and honesty in our civil justice system was not only blocking economic growth, it was also destroying public faith in our legal system.
Today, Texas has become a national tort reform model. Reforms passed in Texas dramatically increased the total number of doctors in our state — especially high risk specialists — by lowering medical liability insurance costs by as much as 50 percent and by reducing the threat that doctors will spend more days in court than treating patients.
Before the reforms, 24 Texas counties had no emergency room physician. Now they do. Another 58 counties have added at least one more emergency room physician to expand access to care. Twelve counties had no licensed obstetrician. Now they do. And another 26 counties have at least one more obstetrician than they had prior to the reforms. Twelve Texas counties have added at least one orthopedic surgeon including seven counties that previously had none. In Lamar County, the population has increased about 2 percent since the reforms were enacted in 2003, while the number of doctors has increased by 7 percent.
Tort reforms do not deny a citizen’s right to his or her day in court, but they do help to mitigate the threat of meritless lawsuits that drive up the cost of medicine without any demonstrable improvement in quality. When nervous doctors are forced to practice defensive medicine it drives up the cost. Ask your own doctor — and get ready for a long conversation.
The economic benefits to Texas of systemic lawsuit reform go far beyond health care. Common sense reforms like putting an end to judge shopping, reforming joint and several liability, capping punitive damages, reining in abusive class action lawsuits, and curbing asbestos and silica lawsuit abuse have helped strengthen the Texas economy, even in these tough times. It is no coincidence that our state created more jobs in the last two years than the other 49 states combined.
Texans for Lawsuit Reform is a bi-partisan, volunteer-led coalition with more than 17,000 supporters residing in 857 Texas communities and representing 1,266 different businesses, professions and trades. We invite you to visit www.tortreform.com, and read the entire story.
Sherry Sylvester is senior communications advisor to Texans for Lawsuit Reform.
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