Persuasive Essay On Medical Malpractice

782 Words2 Pages

Before tort reform was passed in Texas, many doctors were being sued for medical malpractice and there was definite evidence of lawsuit abuse. According to The Heritage Foundation, doctors had become easy targets for medical malpractice lawsuits because there is no point in pursuing a lawsuit against someone who does not have the money. Doctors have the money and the insurance to potentially be able to satisfy a judgment. Over time, the amount of medical malpractice lawsuits have risen, which in turn has lead to medical malpractice insurance rates rising. With the cost of the insurance rising, many doctors retired early, left the business, or moved to new states. This in turn affected healthcare costs and other aspects for patients. In 2003, medical malpractice tort reform was passed through House Bill 4 and Proposition 12. New rules were created in order to fix this increasingly worsening situation. In an idealistic world, tort reform was passed to “create and maintain a fair, honest, and predictable civil justice system that balances the rights of both plaintiffs and defendants” (Houston Chronicle). There are many ways to measure how well it has actually met this goal. I believe that on some levels tort reform is a good idea that can be very helpful overtime, but I do believe that there are some issues with it that still need to be addressed. According to The Legal Examiner, medical malpractice insurance premiums are lower and the risk of being sued for negligence has also dropped. Knowing this, doctors in the state of Texas are feeling more at ease in their practice. The number of doctors, specifically specialists, has almost doubled since 2003, according to The Heritage Foundation. Tom Royer, CEO of Christus Health, c... ... middle of paper ... ...d was biased or skewed to present information that the author agreed with. I had to dig and find what the factual outcome of tort reform has actually been. After researching the topic, I have decided that the idea is one that is good on paper, but in practice still has some kinks to work out. One issue I came across was that the cap was the same for all lawsuits. I do not think this is “fair” or “honest”, as the Houston Chronicle put it. It is unfair to put the same cap on cases that involve the death of a loved one as cases that are not so extreme, for example. In Alaska, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Colorado, and West Virginia, the cap changes depending on the severity of the injury, according to The American Tort Reform Association. I believe Texas should follow the example of these states and allow the cap to be raised in specific circumstances.

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