Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform
The word ‘tort,’ derived from the Latin word, “torquere” means twisted or wrong. A tort is a civil wrongdoing by one party against another for which the injured party can seek compensation from the liable party in a court of law. The wrongdoing may be an intentional or negligent act. Torts encompass personal injury caused by a multitude of situations, including automobile accidents, professional malpractice, defective products, slander, hazardous property conditions and more. In this post, we will touch on medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice occurs if a doctor or other healthcare provider was negligent or careless, thus causing a patient to be injured or to die. Lawmakers have enacted tort reform to limit the amount of medical malpractice awards ostensibly to prevent the cost of malpractice insurance from escalating.
Limits on malpractice awards depend on where the damages fall. Non-economic damages do not have an actual cost associated with them. For example, pain and suffering, loss of service and loss of companionship are classified as non-economic damages. Economic damages are more clearly defined. Types of economic damages include loss of income, medical costs and out-of-pocket expenses.
Most states have some type of tort reform legislation in place. However, the award limits are different from state to state. Although the tort reform system has the best of intentions, it does have opposition from consumers who say that the limits are unfair to injured parties. Of course, tort reform is a positive idea among the medical population who were paying exorbitant insurance fees and outrageous damage awards.
In an analysis of medical malpractice caps, lawmakers are moving to make sense out of tort reform under President Obama’s healthcare initiative. Further, in an article in The Hill, it seems unclear whether President Obama will actually make a deal on tort reform. He has made statements in the past offering a compromise with a cap on medical malpractice costs. However, there is no clear sign as to the outcome.
Michael Monheit is the managing lawyer at Monheit Law, outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has practiced law since 1989. Michael Monheit was the managing attorney of the law offices of Herbert Monheit — now Silverman and Fodera — a firm... Michael Monheit→