Ipse Blogit Slams Barbour's Tort Reform Scare Tactic
Matt Eichelberger at Ipse Blogit has this outstanding post taking issue with Governor Barbour's latest tort reform scare tactic that I wrote about here. Eichelberger notes:
Now, having practiced in the civil arena before, I can assure you that pre-suit notice, in reality, does nothing more to help settle a case than the filing of a complaint does. It's just a trap to ensnare unwary citizens and keep them from getting justice when they are harmed by a state actor. Period.
and:
Here are the number of physicians in Mississippi by year from 1998 through 2007:
1998 - 5,133
1999 - 5,232
2000 - 5,399
2001 - 5,544
2002 - 5,680
2003 - 5,820
***TORT REFORM ENACTED***
2004 - 5,872
2005 - 5,872
2006 - 5,890
2007 - 5,961
Anyone notice anything odd? For all the hue and cry from tort reform proponents about doctors leaving Mississippi and the health care crisis that would ensue, we had growth in the number of physicians in Mississippi during the 6 years leading up to tort reform, and in fact, we have had less growth since tort reform.
Meanwhile, yesterday the Clarion-Ledger proved what a joke it is as a newspaper with this editorial, which takes Barbour's bait hook, line and sinker, without being able to explain why Barbour is right. Having a good outdoors writer, cartoonist and sports writer does not make a good newspaper.
