Tort Reform Pros And Cons

Tort reform is the effort to “reform” lawsuits so as to prevent “runaway verdicts” that range into the millions of dollars. (www.justinian.us/what-is-tort-reform-and-why-is-it-bad-for-the-public-2/) Tort reform isn’t one single idea or law. It is the culmination of ideas and laws designed to change the way our civil justice system works. While all tort reform laws are different , they all share one or more of the following traits:
1. Making it more difficult for injured people to file a lawsuit.
2. Making it more difficult for injured people to obtain a jury verdict.
3. Placing limits on the damages injured people can recover in a lawsuit. (www.whatistortreform.com)
For more than half a century, various incarnations of tort reform have

In addition to targeting jurors in an attempt to influence lawsuit outcomes, tort reform advocates began targeting verdicts through legislation. Insurers and corporations began lobbying pro-business conservatives to push legislation that would impose caps on damages. Even if their public relations campaign failed to make jurors sympathetic to business interests, tort reform advocates could now limit jurors’ ability to impose awards. This tactic proved to be especially successful, and by 1986, more than 39 states had enacted legislation to limit

In the 1980’s corporations, the medical industry and the insurance industry grew tired of large jury verdicts. As discussed above in the history of tort reform many methods were used to try to remedy the situation.
Here in Texas, people were convinced that large jury verdicts were driving up insurance rates, causing doctors to leave the profession and driving up the cost of goods. Organizations were formed to enlist citizens to fight against lawsuit abuse. These Organizations claimed that tort reform would give us lower cost health care, fairer courts, and more jobs. (www.tala.com/about/)
Tort reform has not had the desired results for the citizens of Texas. The number of doctors practicing in Texas may have increased since tort reform, but the number of doctors per citizens has dropped. Prior to tort reform Texas was among the bottom of states in relation to the number of citizens per doctor. There were 11 states with worse ratios than Texas. Today, Texas ranks better than only 9 states. The doctors may have seen a decrease in their medical malpractice insurance but those savings have not been past down to the citizens as health-care costs are higher than ever. Citizens were led to believe that tort reform would reduce their insurance costs, but the people are paying more than ever in Texas for insurance.