theinvisibleheart
New member
www.triallawyersinc.com
Link to 32-page 2003 TRIAL LAWYERS INC. report by Manhattan Institute:
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/triallawyersinc.pdf
Very informative website. Here are some interesting excerpts:
As of 2003,
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1. tort costs exceed $200B (B=Billion) annually
2. it's more than 2% of U.S. GDP
3. tort cost in U.S. are substantially higher than other developed nation
4. in 2001, tort costs grew by 14.3%
5. over the last 30 years, tort costs grew at an annualized rate of 9.1% compared to CPI(measure of inflation) at 5%, U.S. population at 1.1%, and GDP at 7.6%
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* The overall cost of the tort tax over the next ten years may be almost triple the size of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts combined.--2003 Trial Lawyers, Inc.
Tort costs have hit medical industry particularly hard:
___________________________________________________________________
1. more than half of all physicians have being sued.
2. the rate of medical malpractice tort have risen faster than medical insurance premium or medical-care inflation rate for last 20+ years.
3. b/w 2000-2002, medical malpractice insurance rates have risen 30-75%, depending on the area.
4. in 2002, 3 of the top 10 awards were in the range of $80M-$94.5M (M=million).
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In addition, in at least 3 product areas, litigation has killed or decreased product innovation (creation of new products) due to cost of litigation or potential litigation.
___________________________________________________________________
1. aviation industry
The reason for that is that the manufacturer can be sued if the pilot did not carry adequate insurance to compensate the victims.
So if the pilot crashed the plane due to his own negligence, passengers can still sue the manufacturer if the pilot did not carry enough insurance.
2. Rx drugs
Drug companies get sued for alleged side effects and product defects of new drugs even though they passed FDA approval process. Cost of litigation results in withdrawal of already approved drugs as well as less money for research and development required for new drugs.
3. birth control devices(BCD)
Lawsuits against BCD such as Norplant and IUDs have resulted in killing the research into new contraceptives. During last decade, only 3 new contraceptives (all based on variation of existing technology) came into the market.
Furthermore, because defense against litigation eats into profit, U.S. companies today spend 20X more on new cosmetics then research into new contraceptives.
___________________________________________________________________
Lawyers almost killed domestic U.S. vaccine manufacturers:
Individual plaintiffs walk away with pennies:
Link to 32-page 2003 TRIAL LAWYERS INC. report by Manhattan Institute:
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/triallawyersinc.pdf
Very informative website. Here are some interesting excerpts:
As of 2003,
___________________________________________________________________
1. tort costs exceed $200B (B=Billion) annually
2. it's more than 2% of U.S. GDP
3. tort cost in U.S. are substantially higher than other developed nation
4. in 2001, tort costs grew by 14.3%
5. over the last 30 years, tort costs grew at an annualized rate of 9.1% compared to CPI(measure of inflation) at 5%, U.S. population at 1.1%, and GDP at 7.6%
___________________________________________________________________
* The overall cost of the tort tax over the next ten years may be almost triple the size of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts combined.--2003 Trial Lawyers, Inc.
Tort costs have hit medical industry particularly hard:
___________________________________________________________________
1. more than half of all physicians have being sued.
2. the rate of medical malpractice tort have risen faster than medical insurance premium or medical-care inflation rate for last 20+ years.
3. b/w 2000-2002, medical malpractice insurance rates have risen 30-75%, depending on the area.
4. in 2002, 3 of the top 10 awards were in the range of $80M-$94.5M (M=million).
___________________________________________________________________
In addition, in at least 3 product areas, litigation has killed or decreased product innovation (creation of new products) due to cost of litigation or potential litigation.
___________________________________________________________________
1. aviation industry
The reason for that is that the manufacturer can be sued if the pilot did not carry adequate insurance to compensate the victims.
So if the pilot crashed the plane due to his own negligence, passengers can still sue the manufacturer if the pilot did not carry enough insurance.
2. Rx drugs
Drug companies get sued for alleged side effects and product defects of new drugs even though they passed FDA approval process. Cost of litigation results in withdrawal of already approved drugs as well as less money for research and development required for new drugs.
3. birth control devices(BCD)
Lawsuits against BCD such as Norplant and IUDs have resulted in killing the research into new contraceptives. During last decade, only 3 new contraceptives (all based on variation of existing technology) came into the market.
Furthermore, because defense against litigation eats into profit, U.S. companies today spend 20X more on new cosmetics then research into new contraceptives.
___________________________________________________________________
Lawyers almost killed domestic U.S. vaccine manufacturers:
2003 Trial Lawyers said:Congress in 1986 saved the few remaining vaccine manufacturers from near bankruptcy by shielding them from lawsuits (vaccines inevitably cause side effects in some of the recipients).
Individual plaintiffs walk away with pennies:
2003 Trial Lawyers said:In most class action cases, Trial Lawyers, Inc. rakes in huge fees while individual plaintiffs walk away with pennies.
In medical malpractice cases these days, Trial Lawyers, Inc. often takes between 40% and 70% of the award for its fees and costs.
In tabacco litigation, lawyers who never went to trial and never filed an original brief have claimed hundreds of millions of dollars in fees.