Center for Justice and Democracy
This week and last week, Jane Marshall, Jean Price and Earlene Burney had these letters published in
Tennessee and Texas in support of Center for Justice and Democracy.
TORT REFORM DANGEROUS
To the Editor:
I write in support of Michael King's call for the defeat of Proposition 12 ["Capitol Chronicle,"
Aug. 15] and to present my thoughts on the dangers of tort reform prompted by the fact that my mother
lives in a nursing home. Tort reform has reared its ugly head in Tennessee, as it has in Texas, as it has in the
nation's capital. All of us must stand firm against it. Proponents of tort reform would
benefit from it, but victims of medical malpractice would most definitely not benefit.Malpractice lawsuits are being blamed for the
medical crisis, but they are not the problem. Insurance companies that demand outrageous sums of
money for coverage are the problem.Do those insurance company moguls really think
that most of us don't know that their slippery business and accounting practices and
lost investment income are to blame for their price-gouging of policyholders? Placing a cap on malpractice lawsuits
would have devastating consequences for nursing-home residents and their families. A civil suit is
nearly always their last recourse to seek justice when abuse, neglect, and even homicide occurs in a
nursing home. Tort reform would blunt the effectiveness of civil suits, denying residents and their families
even the lesser justice of a meaningful day in civil court. Even more to the point, it would
remove the last incentive, which is money, that most nursing-home owners have to provide at least
adequate care. If a cap is to be placed, it should be placed on insurance premiums, not on malpractice
lawsuits. Instead of trying to impose their will on the legal system with no regard for the
well-being of old and disabled people in nursing homes, those self-serving insurance company
nabobs should spend their time setting their financial house in order, and President Bush and legislators
should work to bring the unregulated insurance industry to heel.
Jane Marshall
Clarksville, Tenn.
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SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT BAD DOCTORS
To the Editor:
Wisely, legislators are giving thoughtful and measured consideration to the issue of medical
malpractice. Unlike legislators in a number of other states, they have not forgotten victims of
malpractice. They realize that malpractice lawsuits are not filed in a vacuum, that they are
a response to medical malpractice.
I have a modest proposal that addresses the central issue: what to do about bad doctors.
Since the insurance industry has considerable leeway in the way it does business, I recommend
that it takes its financial needle and stick it to bad doctors. I see no other way to force those
doctors out of business.
The medical profession is notorious for protecting its own, which, all things being equal, is
admirable, but all things are not equal. Tens of thousands of patients die every year at the hands
of those bad doctors while their colleagues look the other way.
The current administration does nothing, hiding, no doubt, behind its claim to support a smaller
federal government. There is an irony here. While bad doctors continue to commit medical mayhem,
this administration is busy sticking its fingers into malpractice awards, a disservice to victims,
but a boon for bad doctors.
Insurance moguls should wield their financial needle and drive bad doctors out of business. That
would decrease the cost of malpractice insurance for good doctors and, more to the point,
drastically decrease the number of patients who are maimed, who endure constant and debilitating
pain, and who die at the hands of bad doctors.
Jane Marshall
Clarksville
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MEDICAL MALPRACTICE NEEDS MORE ATTENTION
To the Editor:
In a letter to the editor, Sen. Mark Norris Aug. 13 (''Tort reform concerns affordable health
care'') said he is proud to have sponsored legislation which prompted deliberations that made
public the health risks Tennesseans face.
During a hearing before a legislative committee, members of the medical profession called for a
$250,000 cap on non-economic damages. While it is true that malpractice premiums are too high, is it
true that malpractice lawsuits are a part of the medical crisis in Tennessee?
I attended that hearing. When questioned by legislators, those members of the medical
profession who are asking for tort reform could not provide hard data to support their claims that
a cap on awards is needed. Sen. Norris should be proud that he established a forum where it was
made clear that the medical profession has no proof that malpractice lawsuits are the cause of
the medical crisis in Tennessee.
Now he should set his sights on the real problem: medical malpractice.
Earlene Burney
Clarksville 37043
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MEDICAL MALPRACTICE AWARDS CAP WOULD HAVE DIRE CONSEQUENCES
Letter to the Editor:
AARP in Texas has taken a stand against Proposition 12, which would place a $250,000 cap on awards for
medical malpractice non-economic damages, thus denying victims of malpractice a meaningful day in court.
Since AARP members in Tennessee are next in line for that tenure, that dreaded tenure, in a nursing
home, AARP should take a public stand against the tort reform movement that is afoot in the
legislature and work to prevent legislation that would serve the interests of perpetrators of
malpractice rather than the interests of victims of malpractice.
Tort reform would be disastrous for all malpractice victims, but nursing home residents
would be hardest hit. Economic damages for nursing home residents are virtually nonexistent.
Even more to the point, nursing home owners would not fear a lawsuit, simply factoring that token
$250,000 in their budget, a pittance when one considers that Tennessee's nursing homes receive
$900,000,000 a year from the government, which, of course, does not include monies derived from
private-pay residents. What incentive would most nursing home owners have to provide even adequate
care?
AARP should raise its collective voice against tort reform that would solidify even further the
position of second-class citizenship that has been imposed on Tennessee's nursing home residents.
Jean Price,
Clarksville