To: The Texas State House, The Texas State Senate, and Governor Greg Abbott
Repeal the Texas "Dangerous Doctor" Shield Law
Texas "Medical Liability Tort Reform" Law sets maximum damages to an arbitrary $250K. Complex cases that would cost more than that to pursue are rejected, assuring dangerous doctors & hospitals get off without so much as a slap on the wrist while continuing to treat patients unaware they are taking their lives in their hands.
Why is this important?
In 2004, Texas passed a "Medical Tort Reform" law, promising that by limiting damages from medical malpractice judgements to just $250K, consumers would benefit from lower insurance costs. They didn't. Instead, the most complex cases went unprosecuted because they cost more to pursue than the victims could possibly win, ensuring ONLY the most frivolous cases ever went to trial.
End result: dangerous doctors & hospitals go unpunished with no incentive to correct their mistakes, continuing to treat patients who unwittingly entrust their lives to them. Insurance companies saved billions not having to pay out malpractice judgements, ensuring ONLY the MOST frivolous cases ever see the light of day. Texas fell to 50th in the nation as insurance rates continued to soar, and victims of these dangerous doctors were victimized again, denied justice as State Law shielded the people who harmed them.
In 2013, my health-conscious mother who walked two miles a day, went to the gym, watched her weight and went dancing on the weekends, decided to ask her doctor about a lump in her cheek. Her doctor told her she had "Stage iV Lymphoma" and needed chemo. I said "No" but her doctor talked her into it anyway.
Her doctor failed to tell her to take any precautions and she landed in the hospital with Walking Pneumonia that nearly killed her. The hospital then prescribed medication to "cough up the phlegm." As a result, three days of non-stop coughing later, she suffered a collapsed lung. Nine days after that, after having to tell her nurse that she hadn't had a bowel movement in FIVE DAYS, they got her out of bed (with collapsed lung and tubes in her side) to use a portable commode, went into cardiac arrest and was left a vegetable.
The doctors repeatedly lied to us about what happened. When we finally learned what DID happen, no lawyer would take our "excellent" case, citing the Texas Tort Reform "cap" making the case too costly to pursue.
When my mother passed away nine miserable months later, I ordered a full autopsy. The result: MY MOTHER NEVER HAD CANCER. Still, we were told we could not sue, citing the "cap" as the reason.
This is a dangerous... if not deadly... law that needs to be repealed. It does NOTHING to reduce insurance costs, serving only to make insurance companies rich by denying malpractice victims justice.
End result: dangerous doctors & hospitals go unpunished with no incentive to correct their mistakes, continuing to treat patients who unwittingly entrust their lives to them. Insurance companies saved billions not having to pay out malpractice judgements, ensuring ONLY the MOST frivolous cases ever see the light of day. Texas fell to 50th in the nation as insurance rates continued to soar, and victims of these dangerous doctors were victimized again, denied justice as State Law shielded the people who harmed them.
In 2013, my health-conscious mother who walked two miles a day, went to the gym, watched her weight and went dancing on the weekends, decided to ask her doctor about a lump in her cheek. Her doctor told her she had "Stage iV Lymphoma" and needed chemo. I said "No" but her doctor talked her into it anyway.
Her doctor failed to tell her to take any precautions and she landed in the hospital with Walking Pneumonia that nearly killed her. The hospital then prescribed medication to "cough up the phlegm." As a result, three days of non-stop coughing later, she suffered a collapsed lung. Nine days after that, after having to tell her nurse that she hadn't had a bowel movement in FIVE DAYS, they got her out of bed (with collapsed lung and tubes in her side) to use a portable commode, went into cardiac arrest and was left a vegetable.
The doctors repeatedly lied to us about what happened. When we finally learned what DID happen, no lawyer would take our "excellent" case, citing the Texas Tort Reform "cap" making the case too costly to pursue.
When my mother passed away nine miserable months later, I ordered a full autopsy. The result: MY MOTHER NEVER HAD CANCER. Still, we were told we could not sue, citing the "cap" as the reason.
This is a dangerous... if not deadly... law that needs to be repealed. It does NOTHING to reduce insurance costs, serving only to make insurance companies rich by denying malpractice victims justice.