Here is a case where a sloppy surgeon was stupid enough to leave a surgical sponge inside a JUDGE! And, of course, the judge (a 67-year old Palm Beach judge named Nelson Bailey) has had a "come to God" moment and decided that since this blatant act of physician and hospital neglect happened to him, while this is "not his area of the law", the idea of medical malpractice caps is not a good idea. Tort reform is never a good idea when you are the plaintiff; being crapped on by an insurance company and the legislature at the same time is not fun, just ask Trent Lott. Here’s what the judge had to say:
“I don’t know what all these caps are. That is not my area of the law… But what I would like to see is when you have malpractice per se, something this egregious, the damages should be between the parties, a judge and jury without the state legislature dictating limits.”
Amen, judge. But not only for cases of "malpractice per se"; damages should always be decided between the parties, a judge and a jury, within the civil justice system, without legislative interference into a branch of government that legislators know little or nothing about. What happened to you could (should?) happen to every State or federal legislator who has ever taken money from pro-business lobbies and then voted for tort reform or damage caps in personal injury/medical malpractice cases. I wonder how they would feel about tort reform if they were the victims?
Mark Bello has thirty-three years experience as a trial lawyer and twelve years as an underwriter and situational analyst in the lawsuit funding industry. He is the owner and founder of Lawsuit Financial Corporation which helps provide legal finance cash flow solutions and consulting when necessities of life litigation funding is needed by plaintiffs involved in pending, personal injury litigation. Bello is a Justice Pac member of the American Association for Justice, Sustaining and Justice Pac member of the Michigan Association for Justice, Business Associate of the Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado Associations for Justice, a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan and the Injury Board.
