Abolish Tort Reforms

Dear Obama Administration:

In an attempt to deceive the public, tort reform advocates have deliberately used tort cases such as Stella Liebeck’s hot coffee spill to raise concern about frivolous lawsuits that very rarely exist. In order to gain support, they also say that lawsuits raise the cost of health insurance,  the prices of consumer goods, and prevent the United States from competing globally. These are all attempts to gain support for laws that will actually harm us. President Clinton was faced with the Product Liability Fairness Act, which if he signed, would have taken away rights from juries to properly compensate those that were hurt or killed by defective products. The bill includes the word fairness, but to who would this law be fair? In the 1960’s Ford Motor Company made the Pinto in an effort to compete with the Japanese that were making smaller and more efficient cars, and they knew that the Pinto had the potential to catch on fire, yet they did nothing to amend the problem and continued to make them until court cases began to arise because people got hurt and died. Tort reform advocates say that defensive medicine and malpractice suits are the cause of the high cost of health insurance. But, is this really true? George Bush used tort reform as a campaign measure to become elected as governor of Texas, and he obtained the support of the big tobacco companies who backed him. Since 2003, tort reform has done little to help the people that live there. Health insurance has continued to skyrocket, doctors are not flocking to the state, and citizens are being robbed of settlements that they deserve. Now, the issue of tort reform has reached federal status again, and President Obama has already stated that he will not sign the bill. It is important to understand that many of us frown upon “jackpot” lawsuits, however the fact is that you never know when you will need the court system to defend yourself in time of crises because of wrongdoing. Therefore, tort law is something that should be preserved.