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Medical Malpractice Liability Crisis Or Patient Compensation Crisis?, Kathryn Zeiler
Medical Malpractice Liability Crisis Or Patient Compensation Crisis?, Kathryn Zeiler
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
This Article is organized as follows. Part II summarizes the common rhetoric in tort reform debates that places the blame for rising premiums on the liability system and touts tort reform as the cure-all for ailing insurance markets. It then summarizes empirical results, produced using Texas closed claims data and other data, which suggest not only that Texas tort reform advocates wrongly placed blame on the liability system, but also that noneconomic damages caps passed in 2003 have caused more harm than good. Part III describes results that suggest that the widely used tactic of pointing to jumbo jury verdicts …
Turning From Damage Caps To Information Disclosure: An Alternative To Tort Reform, Kathryn Zeiler
Turning From Damage Caps To Information Disclosure: An Alternative To Tort Reform, Kathryn Zeiler
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Medical malpractice damage caps are among the most popular instruments of tort reform at the state level. The Bush administration proposed a federal damage cap on non-economic damages to quell the rise of medical malpractice insurance premiums despite the paucity of empirical evidence demonstrating that damage caps actually decrease premiums. This case study argues that imposing statutory caps on medical malpractice damages is not an effective method of remedying the medical malpractice insurance crisis: therefore, policymakers should consider alternatives to damage caps. In particular, evidence suggests that implementing mandatory disclosure of the contract terms between managed care organizations and physicians …