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Slay the beast of 'reform' rhetoric: corporate interests and other opponents of civil justice spread myths and misinformation to advance their tort 'reform' agenda. Arm yourself with the facts to fight back.

Article Excerpt
Asbestos bankruptcies

Asbestos lawsuits have driven many manufacturers into bankruptcy, causing businesses to close and jobs to be lost.

Asbestos companies in financial trouble? Some of the largest ones facing liability for exposing employees and consumers to deadly asbestos are anything but, according to a recent study.

When hundreds of thousands of people became ill or died because of asbestos exposure, the victims and/or their families sought compensation from the makers of the toxic substance. Many of the companies sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which lets them stay in business while they pay the plaintiffs' rightful claims.

A 2003 study by George Benson--Emory University's John H. Harland Professor of Finance, Accounting, and Economics--found that seven of the biggest asbestos manufacturers that had filed for bankruptcy protection were making profits, and their employment rolls had either increased or did not decline materially.

Based on an analysis of the seven companies' 1998-2002 financial statements and 2003-2005 projections, Benson concluded that "on the whole, they essentially have increased or stabilized their sales, assets, employment, and profitability, and have projected increases. It is fair to say that they are viable and likely to be increasingly successful companies that should generate funds to exit bankruptcy significantly stronger than when they went in."

Med-mal premiums

We need to limit recoveries in medical malpractice cases in order to lower doctors' insurance premiums. In states that don't limit med-mal awards, doctors are leaving their practices because their malpractice insurance rates are skyrocketing.

It is true that med-mal insurance rates are skyrocketing; they did so in the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s, and they are rising again now. But this cyclical increase is tied to insurance companies' investment losses due to drops in the market. (The Truth About Med-Mal Premiums, TRIAL, May 2004, at 36.)

Medical membership associations have raised a hue and cry about a "medical liability crisis" and doctor shortages where their members evacuate states with high insurance rates or leave the profession. But a U.S. General Accounting Office study found that these reports were "not substantiated or did not widely affect access to health care." In the five states the medical profession cites as key examples of the "crisis," the number of doctor departures reported were "sometimes inaccurate or involved relatively few physicians."

These associations and other tort "reform" proponents insist that capping medical malpractice awards is the only way to lower doctors' insurance premiums. The "reformers" just can't show that caps work.

Insurance rates are still soaring in states with caps, including Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Washington, and West Virginia. The insurance...

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