Barnes: Don't Monkey with Constitution

Image via Wikipedia

Democrat Roy Barnes and Republican Nathan Deal squared off Saturday afternoon in their first gubernatorial debate, sponsored by the Medical Association of Georgia and other medical groups, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

The candidates discussed topics including health care, taxes and the state's water crisis in front of an audience of roughly 100 people, including doctors and their campaign supporters. Libertarian candidate John Monds of Cairo also shared the stage.

The two major candidates differed when asked their response to a Georgia Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that struck down a cap in pain and suffering damages awarded by juries in medical malpractice cases. Republicans have long argued that tort reform is needed to protect doctors from frivolous and costly lawsuits.

Barnes said that jurors are smart enough to award proper damages and that judges should be allowed to intervene in the rare instances in which they go overboard. Deal said he is in favor of reinstating the limits with a state constitutional amendment.

"What we know is that the tort reform that was put in place by the General Assembly had very positive effects of bringing people into the medical profession, into our state; keeping some who were already here who might have otherwise migrated to other states," said Deal.

"I do not like to monkey with the constitution," Barnes responded.

"I find it somewhat ironic that we say that jurors - drawn from registered voter rolls - don't have enough sense to decide a case of damages. But, they do have enough sense to decide who's president, governor or even who has the very breath of life taken from them in a criminal case."

Read more: Cherokee Tribune - Barnes Don t monkey with Constitution

"Torts" Not to Blame

Rep. Eric Cantor has joined the wealthy to support the insurance companies. He has signed a new anti-health care reform petition to repeal the health care bill and replace it with a plan that focuses on restricting medical lawsuits.

First, malpractice liability costs are a small part of the overall health care costs. In fact, medical malpractice costs in the last accounting were less than 1.5 percent of the more than $2 trillion-a- year health care system.

Second, tort reform won't lower costs. Case in point: In 2003, Texas passed a law limiting malpractice awards to $250,000, regardless of the severity of the claim. Since then, the cost of Texas health care has not decreased; it's increased at double the national average.

Also, the state's uninsured rate has remained the highest in the country, spending on diagnostic testing is above the national average, growth in the number of doctors has slowed, and the cost of health insurance has more than doubled.

Third, the costs we should be more concerned about are the costs of medical mishaps themselves, both in dollars and in human suffering.

Every year, 300,000 deaths in hospitals are attributed to "medical mistakes and/or malpractice." Last year, 783,936 Americans died as a result of "health care" they received both in and outside hospitals. Sometimes the "wrong" arm or leg gets cut off, patients get the wrong medication or the wrong dosage, and are injured or die. Who needs protection, patients or the insurance companies?

Insurance companies are making record profits, even in this recession. But that's not enough; they are now seeking government protection for their profits. Will Rep. Cantor desert the people of the 7th District once again and support the insurance companies at any cost?

Read original ==>> Fredericksburg.com - Torts not to blame - page 1 FLS http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2010/092010/09022010/569578#ixzz0yNrEw2iL

Savannah - LNG Tankers in Streets are a bad idea

LNG Tankers on Savannah Roadways: A Dangerous and Lethal Mix



Recently a Liquid Natural Gas producer suggested it should be allowed to deliver LNG from Savannah, GA throughout the south, to include Atlanta.

From Savannahnow.com:

A new proposal from the operator of Elba Island, one of the largest importers of liquefied natural gas or LNG in the country, would have some of that natural gas stay in its liquid state and make the journey out of Elba by tanker truck. The proposed route takes 13,000- gallon double-walled tanker trucks south on the Truman Parkway and then across DeRenne Avenue to I-516. Southeast LNG wants to start its trucking operation in late 2012 with 8-10 trucks a day and ramp up to 58 trucks a day over the ensuing decade.

Both the idea of additional traffic and the transport of hazardous material on DeRenne worry some who live along the already beleaguered corridor.

The Danger?

What is the danger? Outside of normal wrecks, tankers are prone to rollovers.

LNG tankers make perfect terrorist bombs. In Savannah these trucks will pass right by Hunter Army Airfield. It is a military airfield and subordinate installation to Fort Stewart.

Hunter features a runway that is 11,375 feet (3,468 m) long and an aircraft parking area that is more than 350 acres (1.4 km²). The runway and apron, combined with the 72,000 sq ft (6,689 m²) Arrival/Departure Airfield Control Group (A/DACG) Facility and nearby railhead, allow the 3rd Infantry Division from nearby Fort Stewart to efficiently deploy soldiers and cargo worldwide. NASA identified Hunter as an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle orbiters.

In 1944 a LNG explosion leveled one square mile of Cleveland, known as the Cleveland Disaster. The very first commercial LNG facility built in the United States in 1941, caused a major industrial accident known as the "The Cleveland Disaster." According to the U.S. Bureau of Mines report, LNG holding tanks failed and released their contents into the streets and sewers and their vaporous cloud ignited and fire engulfed the nearby residents and commercial establishments.
The Fiery Inferno Devastated One Square Mile Of Cleveland, Ohio. Liquefied Natural Gas Destroyed 79 Homes, 2 Factories, 217 Cars,7 Trailers, Left 680 Homeless,Injured 225 and Killed 131.

In 2004, a blast at Algerian liquefied natural gas plant killed 27 people.

In Savannah, they propose 58 trucks a day passing local retail stores, businesses with thousands of jobs and homes and families.

Each truck tanker will have 13,000 gallons of Liquid Natural Gas which in a wreck, if released, may convert from liquid to vapor and expand to 600 times to about 8 million gallons of gas....

This would will produce about a 5,000 degree fire.

Simply stated, this is a bad idea. Time to kill the proposal now.

GTLA Supports Victims in the Gulf

Despite the risk of the BP oil spill threatening to keep attendees from enjoying the beaches of the Gulf Coast, members of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA) are going forward as planned with their annual summer convention to be held July 29 – 31 in Destin, FL. This event, which normally draws hundreds of plaintiffs’ attorneys and their families from all over Georgia, is now shrouded by grief for the many victims affected by the spill.

GTLA President Michael Warshauer, under pressure to cancel or move this annual event said, “I have decided that cancellation is simply not an option that is consistent with who we are as an organization. The people of the Gulf region are hurting. Collectively, they are the victims of perhaps the most egregious tortious conduct ever committed in the United States. Our organization, like many others throughout the country, is committed to helping people who have been harmed by the careless, reckless, wrongful conduct of greedy corporations.”

When this meeting, traditionally held in a beach location, was booked over a year ago, no one could have imagined the impending crisis that the Gulf Coast community now faces.

“We will go to Destin. We will swim in their pools, spend money in their restaurants, buy souvenirs and and play on their golf courses. To abandon the victims of BP's callous conduct, when they need us most, would be to join BP and be part of the Gulf's problem. That is not what we, the lawyers of GTLA, do,” said Warshauer.

Study skews view of courts

A recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce study is attempting to cause a stir in some parts of the country over what it calls the national lawsuit climate. It ranks each state based on a dubious set of factors for how friendly a state's legal system is for business.

The report is short on facts and credibility. And even more concerning is the lack of accountability it promotes - the same lack of accountability that pushed our nation into one of the worst economic messes in history.

The annual lawsuit climate rankings by the Institute of Legal Reform, a branch of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, rely only on the opinions of corporate defense attorneys who stand to profit when their corporations are shielded from those they have harmed through negligent behavior.

Corporations represented by the Chamber, such as AIG, the insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies, have gone to great lengths to portray our nation's civil justice system as unfair to them and at the same time wreaking havoc on our nation's economy.


This study is yet another tool in their PR campaign.

This year's study ranks Kentucky 40th in the nation in terms of how "fair" its legal system is for business, yet the study itself is the most blatantly unfair form of spin doctoring one can imagine.

For example, if you read a study showing that Duke University was the most popular sports team in Kentucky, would it affect your opinion if you knew only 10 people had been surveyed, and they were all Duke alumni?

In this survey, only those people who stand to gain from eliminating the protections of our civil justice system were asked whether they thought it should be limited. So you can guess their answers.
Aside from the flawed methodology, those promoting this study have caused so much harm to our nation's economy.

They say they are promoting small business, but in reality, companies like AIG - which alone has given the U.S. Chamber $23 million - are pushing for less accountability through our courts.

That is disturbing since it was their own lack of accountability that got them, and consequently our nation, in so much trouble.
Kentucky's civil justice system should be a fair and balanced way of addressing negligent behavior while encouraging a strong, ethical and accountable business community.

The legal and business community should not be at odds, but instead should be seen as allies. By serving as a watchdog against negligent and bad business behavior, good businesses can thrive and grow Kentucky's economy.
Kentuckians should see this and similar reports for what they truly are: fraudulent efforts by billion-dollar corporations to tilt the table in their favor at the expense of consumers.

If they really want to create a more thriving business community, may we suggest they start by cutting back on their million dollar bonuses and instead invest that money in creating good, safe jobs in states like Kentucky that need them.
Maresa Fawns is executive director of the Kentucky Justice Association, a statewide membership organization comprised mostly of trial lawyers.

From kentucky.com

Payment to Vicims of Medical Errors Fall

From healthcarefinancenews.com:

Fewer medical malpractice payments were made on behalf of doctors in 2009 than any year on record, according to the National Practitioner Data Bank.

This finding contradicts claims that medical malpractice litigation is to blame for rising healthcare costs and that changing the liability system to the detriment of patients will not curb costs.

The value of malpractice payments was also the lowest since 1999. Adjusted for inflation, payments were at their lowest since 1992, a Public Citizen analysis of the NPDB shows.

According to the analysis, healthcare spending rose 83 percent from 2000-09, while medical malpractice payments fell 8 percent (both figures are in unadjusted dollars.)

A total of 10,772 payments were made on behalf of doctors in 2009, totaling $3.49 billion. That figure equals 0.14 of 1 percent of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ estimated $2.5 trillion in overall U.S. healthcare spending for 2009.

Last year was the fifth consecutive year that the number of payments has fallen and the sixth straight year in which the value of payments has fallen, according to the analysis. In contrast, U.S. healthcare costs have increased every year since 1965, the first year the data was recorded.

Studies have found that injuries and deaths caused by medical errors dwarf the number of actual medical malpractice payments. For example, the Institute of Medicine found in 1999 that 44,000 to 98,000 people die every year due to avoidable errors.

Nestlehutt: A Powerful Statement about the Case and Why Med Mal Caps are Un-American

Legislative Watch Day 2

Today the House and Senate set the schedule for the first 4 weeks of the Legislative Session. The Legislature will be in session through Thursday of this week (Day 4) and then will take off this Friday.


The Assembly will technically be out of session next week but, following the King Holiday on Monday, will spend Tuesday through Friday in budget hearings (listen for the gnashing of teeth under the Gold Dome that week). The Legislature will return to session January 25th through the 28th (Day 8) but will take off Friday, January 29th. They then will be in session the entire week of February 1 through February 5 (Day 13) and will return on Monday, February 8th for Day 14.

At some point between now and February 8th, they will adopt a resolution setting the schedule beyond that date.

Tomorrow, Governor Perdue will deliver his final State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate. Look for heavy emphasis on the budget problems, transportation and water issues.

Legislative Watch 2010 Day 1

DATE January 11, 2010—Day 1


Today’s Top News:


Today was the first day of the 2010 legislative session. As it is the second year of the two-year term, all bills that progressed to either the House or Senate Rules Committee by the end of last session were automatically returned to their committee of origin.

The top news for this day is that Representative David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives to replace former Speaker Glenn Richardson who resigned amidst scandal last month.

Tomorrow morning, the Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual “Eggs & Issues” legislative breakfast. That meeting is where new, so-called ‘pro-business’ legislative initiatives historically have been announced

Governor Perdue delivers his State of the State address and his annual budget address this Wednesday.

In Georgia, Middle Ground for Victims of Medical Wrongdoing?

How many hoops should you have to jump through to get justice? It's a fair question that many people struggle with. Yesterday, the CEO of a Georgia medical services company suggested - in an opinion piece submitted to a GA newspaper - that to be sure that Georgians who have been harmed by negligent medical care are worthy of justice we should subject them to one more hoop. Not coincidentally, it's a hoop that benefits only medical professionals and insurance companies – the only two interest groups that profit when injured patients are prevented from securing justice.

What the author of the opinion has proposed is that, instead of allowing victims of medical malpractice the same Constitutional Right to Trial by Jury enjoyed by all other Georgians, people harmed by medical wrongdoing/malpractice would have to get permission to have a jury trial from a “screening panel” comprised of members of the medical and insurance industries, the same industries that want to avoid compensating injured patients. This approach is wrong and adds an unnecessary, ineffective layer to our civil justice system.

The fact is all medical malpractice cases brought in Georgia have already been through multiple screening hoops. The first hoop is that you have to have had something very bad happen as a result of malpractice. Your next hoop is that you have to find a lawyer willing and able to take your case. That lawyer will tell you that there is another, special hoop that protects only professionals charged with negligence. In order to pass through that hoop, the patient must find a medical professional willing to publicly criticize their colleague and sign a document swearing that malpractice happened. So far your case has been screened three times: Something bad happens. You find a lawyer who will invest in helping you find justice. And, you find another doctor who agrees that there was malpractice and is willing to say so. Then there’s a fourth screening before you can have a jury hear your case: the judge must screen the case, too.

Our Founding Fathers created the world's best independent screening panels when they imbedded the right to a trial by jury in our Constitution. You are entitled to a jury of your peers, not a two step process, the first of which is a trial by jury of the defendant's colleagues. We trust the people of our communities to fairly resolve our disputes when we are unable to resolve them ourselves.

The CEO cites an approach tried in Maine as being the right fit for us here in Georgia. He fails to mention that this approach is regularly criticized by the Supreme Court of Maine as being inadequate and harmful to the people of Maine. He cites, as a reason for needing “screening panels,” a Georgia case involving a plastic surgeon who carelessly destroyed the blood supply to a woman’s face and left her horribly disfigured. He suggests that this woman – who was horribly injured through no fault of her own and who successfully navigated all of the legal hurdles to hold the wrongdoer accountable for herself and other patients – has not done enough. He says she needs to clear yet another hurdle to prove herself worthy of a jury trial. The suggestion is outrageous and it serves no purpose but to deny those who have been harmed their fair measure of justice.

Why should patients who have been harmed by medical malpractice have to go through two trials when everyone else only has to go through one? Why should medical professionals get special treatment? It's a question with an obvious answer: They shouldn't.