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CCJL News Update
CCJL Under the Dome The session is starting to wrap up, and the winding down has brought with it a host of late bills. For non-lawsuit related news please click HERE. Med mal bill (fianlly) dies We are pleased to announce that SB 164 (link) - the bill that would have increased the caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases - finally died last week in the House Judiciary Committee. We have been telling you about this bill, which it seemed just wouldn't go away, for some time. Thank you to all the members who took the time to call and write their elected officials in opposition to this bill. If you'd like more information on the bill that died today, please click HERE for the fact sheet. Insurance bad faith bill advancing through Senate The last major lawsuit-related bill moving during these last days of the 2008 is HB1407, the third and final bill from the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. Sponsored by the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, the bill codified in statute a first party claim for bad faith in insurance claims. But in doing so, the bill significantly lowers the standard for a bad faith claim to "reasonableness," or simple negligence. The bill also makes employers with more than 50 employees liable for a bad faith claim if its health care plan is self funded. We sent out an alert on this issue last week, which can be found HERE. Blake: Shock and awe, lawyer style Columnist Peter Blake took time this week to comment on the initiatives filed by the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association we discussed in last weeks Dome. Seen HERE lawyer initiatives can be seenHERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. Defensive medicine leads to increased medical error At the CCJL we are constantly reminded of the obvious costs to business and consumers of frivolous litigation, but we were once again reminded this week of the more subtle costs of an overly litigious society with a great oped (HERE) in USA Today. In a political era where the rising cost of healthcare seems to insert itself into every candidate's speech, it was, once again, brought to our attention much of that rising cost comes in the form of "defensive medicine," ordering additional tests and procedures to avoid a medical malpractice suit. In addition to the sheer cost of defensive medicine, the oped piece makes two interesting points. It sites a The New England Journal of Medicine study that found almost 40% of the medical malpractice cases they looked at had no medical error. The oped piece also discusses the misnomer that although costly, defensive medicine must lead to more accurate outcomes. In fact, according to research from the Dartmouth Atlas Project, more intense medical tests and procedures "have led to worse outcomes, higher costs and an increased number of medical errors." Wall Street Journal's analysis of the Federal False Claims Act Seen HERE the Wall Street Journal takes a look at the "bonanza" for the trial bar if the Federal False Claims Act is reworked by Iowa Republican Charles Grassley. Grssley's proposal would expand the nature and scope of cases under this act which would be a major pay-day for tial lawyers. A Texas Turnaround: The Impact of Lawsuit Reform on Business Activity in the Lone Star State Our counterparts in Texas at Texans for Lawsuit Reform comissioned a study on the effects of tort reform on the business environement in Texas. Nationally recognized economist Ray Perryman found, "Approximately 8.5 percent of Texas economic growth over the past decade is the result of lawsuit reform." If you're interested in the press release from TLR you can review it HERE or to download the entire study please click HERE. If you see an article on lawsuit abuse you think others should see, please
e-mail it to info@ccjl.com. |
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1125 17th Street, Suite 600 - Denver, CO 80202 - Tel 303.628.3313 - Fax 303.293.3236 - info@ccjl.org Copyright © 2008 Colorado Civil Justice League. All rights reserved. The CCJL is an affiliate of the American Tort Reform Association |
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