Lawsuit Abuse

"Too much of anything is bad"

Introduction

Recent studies have shown that the current system has become almost a playground for the personal injury lawyers; there are instances that these people misuse the legal system for personal profit but seldom do they realize that these measures ultimately turn out detrimental for the other patients. Abusive, to describe these steps in a word, fact remains that the lawsuits threaten the access to healthcare as well as reduces the affordability factor apart from discouraging medical innovation. This article is meant for dragging the issue to the public eye and to make them aware of the negative impacts that lawsuit abuses bring upon the entire system.

Facts and Figures

According to the studies by American Civil Liberties Union, a litigation takes 2½ years, on an average, to resolve.
If the entire nation is taken into consideration, a lawsuit costs nearly $809 annually, according to Trends and Findings on the U.S. Tort System.
The combined income of trial lawyers is one and a half times of Microsoft or Intel and twice that of Coca-Cola, according to Trial Lawyers, Inc., A Report on the Lawsuit Industry in America.
A total of 1.5 million lawsuits were filed in the state of California in 2002.
More than $80 million are paid annually to defend, indurate and pay for tort/ liability claims.

The reasons behind: Are they reason enough?

There had been a column in St. Petersburg Times, dated 1/1/05 that provided a hilarious (ironically) account of an eighteen-year-old person from Orlando, Florida.
The teenager attempted to jump clear from one parking structure to the adjoining one but missed to cover the two and a half feet distance. The result was a knocked out person lying six stories down. There had been a lawsuit that blamed it on the builders for designing a very, very short fence structure; it was also claimed that building something that couldn’t prevent a teen from jumping deliberately is an indirect crime. A still funnier thing was a woman suing McDonalds for using a fatty cooking oil. And these are just two mere instances.

The Effects

According to California State Supreme Court Justice Janice Brown, lawsuits on these grounds are nothing but "a means of generating attorneys' fees without any corresponding public benefit." With California being the eye of the storm, employers as well as the businesses within the state are facing major threats from these legalized extortions, in spite of the presence of Unfair Competition Law (Business & Professions Code Section 17200) that was meant to protect both consumers and business from concerns or people that led astray other consumers. Loopholes made the situation grow worse; as of now, the law is facilitating widespread abuse, thanks to the personal injury lawyers. And the worst part is, these lawyers have the authority to act as district attorneys, which they misuse to sue companies being the representatives of the general public. Clients and evidences are not required, which makes this practice more of a state-sanctioned extortion.

How to put an End to it

Though an overnight success is out of question; however, taking a few steps forward may reduce the problem up to quite an extent. These steps can be taken by voicing individual opinions to the media, else, joining an organization that’s fighting to eradicate lawsuit abuse may also prove helpful.