Vested Interest - July 2006 Issue

The President's Thoughts

INDEPENDENCE DAY – CELEBRATING CIVIL JUSTICE !!

A few days ago, many Americans celebrated the July 4th holiday, commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which declared:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…

Whether we gathered for the traditional parades, assembled with family and friends or enjoyed a grand display of fireworks, we all celebrated the freedoms which were derived from the courage of 56 men who signed this historic document. Who were these mutinous individuals who became the lightening rods for democracy?

Believe it or not, these disobedient representatives of the 13 British colonies were physicians, farmers, clergy, merchants, soldiers, judges and LAWYERS!! Never before in the history of our fledgling nation had such a diverse group joined together for the purpose of insuring that a system of civil justice would exist in America.

Lawyer Thomas Jefferson, the initial drafter of the document, later opined during his first inaugural address:

“Freedom of religion; freedom of the press; freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected, I deem [among] the essential principles of our government, and consequently [among] those which ought to shape its administration.”1

On July 8, 1776, the sounds from the Liberty Bell, hanging in Independence Hall, changed the world. Yet today, some 230 years later, we have forgotten the lessons from that unique assembly of representatives with diverse backgrounds. No longer will physicians openly admit that lawyers are important to the civil justice system. No longer will the nation’s merchants acknowledge the advantages of attorneys working for civil justice.

Instead, the American Medical Association is asking its members to send money to a “Fund For America’s Liability Reform.” On its website, the AMA claims the money is needed to:

“Help us [AMA] fix the medical liability crisis and stand with your fellow physicians across America. With the trial lawyers pulling out all the stops to maintain the “jackpot justice” status quo, breaking the gridlock will not be easy.”

What “jackpot justice?” The AMA, itself, is a huge consumer of the civil justice system. Is it “jackpot justice” that the AMA and its state member organizations have extracted over $640 million dollars in settlements from health care insurers based on a class action lawsuit? Or, is it justice for the physicians who were getting underpaid by the HMOs?

The reality is that the AMA has hired TRIAL LAWYERS and reaped the benefits of millions of dollars. More importantly, the AMA proudly boasts in its Litigation Center “highlights” all of the lawsuits in which it is (or has been) involved. The following are a few examples, although the list is too long to reproduce here:2

• IN RE MANAGED CARE LITIGATION (MDL 1334 – S.D. Fla.) – class action lawsuit; Settlements against health care insurers already exceed in excess of $640 million dollars.
• PRICE V. PHILLIP MORRIS – class action ($10 billion dollar verdict) – AMA filed amicus curiae brief. “AMA assured the Illinois Supreme Court that the AMA endorsed the lower court’s scientific findings that light cigarettes are, in general, at least as harmful to smokers as ordinary cigarettes.”3
• AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION v. United Healthcare (S.D.N.Y.)
• BATES V. PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE – class action lawsuit (724 N.Y.S.2d 3)
• LUKS V. EMPIRE HEALTHCHOICE – class action lawsuit (N.Y.S. Ct.)
• PENNSYLVANIA PSYCHIATRIC SOCIETY V. GREEN SPRING HEALTH SERVICES (280 F.3d 278)
• POTVIN V. METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE CO. (997 P.2d 1153).
• FOONG V. EMPIRE BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD (762 N.Y.2d 348).
• OKLAHOMA CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PEDIATRICS V. FOGARTY (205 F.Supp.2d 1265)

The answer to this conundrum appears to be founded in a new definition of civil justice – “that all men are NOT created equal. That victims of medical negligence shall be treated differently under the law.”

This is the only explanation for legislation which forces artificial caps on medical malpractice awards. This is the only explanation for creating separate administrative remedies for children injured by vaccines. And this is the only explanation for the latest push for “health courts” - separate justice, not equal justice - for victims.

As we espouse Democracy and freedoms for others around the world, let us not forget the work of lawyers Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Paine, John Penn and so many others. Preserve the civil justice system!!

Judy L. Cates, President
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

1 Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural Address, 1801. [return]
2 For complete list of Litigation Center lawsuits, see www.ama-assn.org. [return]
3 See, AMA website – Litigation Center Highlights. July 7, 2006. [return]