Just because you say it is so, doesn’t make it so…..

The tradition goes on. Year after year, President Bush, in his State of the Union address, bashes one of his favorite whipping boys– the “frivolous” lawsuit. Only this year, he called it “junk” lawsuits. Why the change of language? Well, it seems the study (read it here) that most of the advocates of tort deform like to rely upon for supporting their claims about frivolous lawsuits specifically concluded: “[P]ortraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolous litigation are overblown.” Yup, claims of frivolous lawsuits are OVERBLOWN. Wow, wonder why the President didn’t say that?

One of my favorite bloggers, NYC medical malpractice attorney Eric Turkewitz, gives a wonderful analysis of the President’s speech and the study mentioned above in two posts: here and here. Great reading for those folks interested in getting beyond the hype and down to the cold facts.

Thanks for reading,

Jim Reed