Don't pull Grandma's plug (until you get a lawyer) - A case for tort reform

Last week a 92 year old man was awarded $1.9 million dollars from the Phillip Morris company for the death of his 73 year old wife. Shirley Barbanell died in 1996 of lung cancer after smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day since she was 16. Leon, her husband, was originally awarded $5.3 million, but the jury determined that the tobacco giant was only 35% responsible for Shirley's illness, with Shirley herself being 65% responsible (according to a practice in tort law called comparative negligence).

Now I'll give you some articles in a minute, and you can argue the facts amongst yourselves.

But I wanted to add a few facts to the mix.

Tort settlements account for nearly 2% of United States GDP, or approximately 285 billion dollars. However, liability insurance holdings, the insurance folks get to protect themselves from lawsuits may be consuming as much as 8-10% of the global GDP, with the US one of the biggest consumers. We can extrapolate that the US% is similar to global trends. That means as much as 12% GDP is used in preventing lawsuits. With healthcare consuming 16% of our GDP, and with malpractice insurance and lawsuits increasing the costs of healthcare (as the costs of those suits and insurance gets passed on to the consumer, us) we can't really know how much of our GDP is being spent suing people and preventing getting sued. 10% - 15% - more?

Lawyers take, on average of 50% of a tort settlement. If there were 285 billion dollars in settlements in 2008, that means being a tort lawyer is a 145 billion dollar industry. That's more than the majority of our industries make. That's big oil kinda money.

As for Shirley's case, it's worth noting the average American life span is 74 years old. Shirley Barbanell lived a reasonably long life. She chose to smoke and one might argue she got 50 years of product enjoyment from her Marlboros. And now, as sort of a parting gift, for being a loyal customer, her hubby gets $1.9 million (well, closer to $700,000, after the lawyers get their cut, and taxes, etc.)

Speaking of taxes, the states collected over 19 billion dollars in tobacco tax (with the feds taking another 6-8 billion, and more to come with a recent drastic hike), and many state economies depend on tobacco taxes to survive. If tobacco companies are going to sustain this kind of cash drain, somebody better keep smoking. Smoke em if you got em, please!



Enough facts, here's what it all comes down to...

1. Tort law is costing us trillions of dollars (and our souls). While some liability claims are legitimate, it is hard for me to see how Leon Barbarnell, 92 deserves to be a millionaire for his last few years because his wife enjoyed and CHOSE a life of smoking. Tort law teaches us to avoid responsibility. "I'm taking up a few more bad habits so my hubby has more chances to collect. Who needs life insurance, when I can SUE!" This rampant culture of lawsuits not only costs trillions of dollars, but it is turning us into a people who can't (won't) take responsibility for our own actions. We're a nation of greedy tattle tales, and nobody likes a tattler.

2. Tort law is mostly making lawyers rich. Tort lawsuits make lawyers millionaires in only one case, and many class action lawsuits net millions for attorneys while plaintiffs get only a few dollars compensation. Lawyers are looking for cash cows and big tobacco, medical malpractice and personal injury are always ready for milking, the consequences be damned.

3. The hidden cost of tort law is insurance. Everything must be insured to protect it from being sued. The sidewalks in front of your house need insurance. The porta potty you used at the fair. Even your kid's teacher may be required to carry insurance to protect from lawsuit. And especially your doctor, who could be paying up to half of his/her salary in malpractice insurance costs. Everything, everything, EVERYTHING costs MORE the more we sue, and as such, more places must then insure against lawsuits. The cycle of higher prices continues.

4. Tort reform will not be easy. People like Leon Barbarnell want to point the finger of blame and get rich. Lawyers want to help him do that. Lawyers give a lot of money to Washington. HECK, LAWYERS RUN Washington. They don't like giving up money or power in Washington, DC.

5. Tort reform is necessary. To reduce medical costs. To reduce government costs. To stop giving money to greedy folks that want a free lunch, and insure legitimate negligence cases are handled based on the case merits and not merely potential payouts. To save us all trillions of dollars. And maybe give us back our sense of personal responsibility.

I'm finishing off my smoke, now. But don't worry, folks, I'm not the suing type.



Here's the articles.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/13/florida.tobacco.award/index.html
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-14-2009/0005077718&EDATE=#linktopagebottom
http://divisionoflabour.com/archives/003397.php
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-14-2009/0005077718&EDATE=#linktopagebottom

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A perfect case for better health care, reproductive education and not naming your daughter 'Candy'.

Recent stories on CNN news and the Huffington Post are talking about Candy Vigneri, the Maryland woman who was arrested Wednesday on child abuse and endangerment charges after giving birth in a Washington, DC PortaPotty.

Here's the messy details.
From CNN
"A 44-year-old Maryland woman faces charges of child abuse after police say she gave birth in a portable toilet and dropped the newborn into the waste tank.
After exiting the portable toilet in Long Wharf Park in Cambridge, Candy Vigneri got a cigarette from a construction worker and sat at a picnic table, police Lt. Wayne Bromwell said.
As she sat, a male passer-by approached the toilet but Vigneri warned him, "Don't go in there, I just had a baby there," police said.
The man immediately called 911. Vigneri returned to the toilet and retrieved the newborn from the foul liquid at the base of the tank.
The baby was unresponsive and covered with a blue antibacterial chemical agent when emergency responders reached the scene, police said.
Vigneri told officers that she didn't know she was pregnant.
She was arrested Wednesday on charges of child abuse and reckless endangerment and is being held on a $50,000 bond.
The baby is in stable condition at Easton Memorial Hospital. Dorchester County social services will take control of the newborn after she is released from the hospital."

(A few other reported details, Vigneri lives in Maryland with her other children. Not really someone who wouldn't know she was preggers.) Here's a great article on it, with some thoughtful insights.
http://www.examiner.com/x-2134-DC-Ethical-Issues-Examiner~y2009m7d2-Ultimate-throwaway-Baby-born-in-portapotty-screams-about-American-society
____________

Yep, that's America. We're fucking nuts, here. And pathetic. Sure, Candy Vigneri is pathetic, that goes without saying. What do you expect when you name your daughter Candy? (Anybody ever heard of Senator or General or CEO Candy? No.)

But even more pathetic is the culture that leads to this kind of life choice.

Expensive, unavailable health care often leads women to not seek prenatal care. The high costs of living impact families that cannot afford the birth control, doctors visits, or even food for the kids they have. The obvious lack of mental health care facilities and services leaves folks to be crazy (like Candy clearly is) and wander the streets having babies in toilets. Poor education, including inadequate reproductive and child development education leaves people to "figure shit out for themselves" and people are clearly stupid. Shame and politics affect women's access to all reproductive options. A culture that is 'gaga' over babies rewards pregnancy with social status and promotes idealized versions of motherhood, but leaves women out in the cold when it comes to health care or child services or family rearing support. And now this child is here in the world and is "enjoying" the care of the local Dept of Family Services, another wonderful element of modern American life (sarcasm included).

We have spent a lot of time arguing between the left and right on the health care plan, on abortion rights and the value of Human Life, on what this administration or the last administration did or did not do. When it comes down to it, what we need more than debates and mud slinging and blame is real solutions that affect real people. You know, people like Baby Vigneri, who are going to inherit what ever mess we create or clean up.

So next time you feel compelled to blame the Right for all the worlds ills, or blame the Left for everything gone wrong, remember this new little baby. Remember that what this baby, and in fact all of us need is actual solutions, and real solutions require compromise and respect. They require us to put our petty attitudes and prejudices aside and do what is necessary to make REAL CHANGE, not merely affective campaign slogans.

For all of us in America, it is time to give birth.

Or get off the pot.

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"TOO FAT" - Food, Physical Fitness and Economics in America

July 8, 2006 - Saturday


"TOO FAT" - Food, Physical Fitness and Economics in America


TOO FAT.
Food, Physical Fitness and Economics in America

America is fat. Statistic after statistic repeats the same refrain. 40%, 50 %, 60% are obese, depending on whom you talk to. We sit around too much, exercise too little, and of course, we eat fatty, fattening, fat enhancing food. Big Macs, Oreos, Pepsi, chips, fries, Supersized. Kids are getting fatter than ever. Fat will kill you, the doctors report on the 10 oclock news in between the commercials for the McRib and Miller Lite. Diets abound: no meat, all meat, juice fasting, meal replacement, appetite suppressants, metabolic uppers, specially calculated body type menus for maximum weight loss for YOU! Exercise equipment, gym memberships, video workouts, the latest exercise craze from Milan, L.A. or Suzanne Somers. An infomercial producers dream. And somehow even all of that wasnt enough to keep Al Roker from stapling his stomach. On and on the media prattles about fat, and we all try to understand where we all stand on Americas giant scale.

But as in life, the scale doesnt tell the whole of the story. Americas problem with weight goes beyond fast food and couch potatoes. Fat is not just about fat; its about economics, politics, media coverage, health care, education and personal values. The battle of the bulge is a struggle for power: over ourselves, over others and over nature herself.

Lets start with economics. Fat is big money for business owners. The foods that make us fat are part of our national identity. Burger franchises and soda companies and beer brewers and snack food producers are so economically prevalent that they sponsor the majority of professional and semi-professional sporting events, as well as sponsoring the music industry, the amusement park industry, and the nightclub industries, to name a few. Gaining weight makes people money. It employs millions of individuals, provides hefty profits to investors, and contributes significant funding to various charitable ventures. A double cheeseburger with a large coke and a Hershey bar could help send a kid to camp, employ an impoverished individual, return a sizeable dividend to the shareholder and keep professional sports on TV. Thats a mouthful.
And treating the illnesses that are brought on by fat makes money, too. For doctors, hospitals, physical therapists, HMOs and of course, the pharmaceutical companies. Arthritis, Diabetes, heart disease are prevalent illnesses associated with obesity with prevalent and costly treatments. The choices of medication for arthritis alone are nearly endless. Heart disease alone earns the medical industry 7 billion dollars a year. The medical cost of treating these long term and chronic diseases is the bread and butter of the medical system.

Losing the weight makes money, too. Weight loss is a 4 billion dollar a year industry. Every new diet or exercise or product makes money. And the medical community and the media put tremendous pressure on us to lose the weight. Seeing your doctor before you begin a workout regimen makes money. Nutritionalist advice, prescription diet drugs, and bariatric surgery make money. And with the massive pressure put on us by the media to be thin, diet entrepreneurs have built in product promotion. When all the celebrities are airbrushed thin, when all of the news shows do specials on new weight loss trends and the latest study on the dangers of obesity, when all the talk shows do segments on weight loss success stories, the diet industry makes more money. No wonder Suzanne Somers did that Thigh master thing.
Americas fat is a huge cash cow feeding an estimated 5 trillion dollars into the economy, that is 33% of the GNP. The people spend money on the products that make them fat, and then spend money on the products that take fat off. If everyone truly started eating healthy and kept off those pesky extra pounds, the American economy would collapse. Perhaps thats is why funding for physical fitness training in schools has been repeatedly cut by local and federal politicians over the past 20 years. Not enough money in the budget they say. But truth be told, statistics show that fat kids become fat adults. Fat adults are good for the economy.

And yet it is harder for a fat person to get equal treatment. Obese individuals are treated differently from thinner folk. Fat prejudice is one of the most allowable forms of prejudice to date. You would never ask a black man to purchase two seats on an airplane because other people were uncomfortable sitting next to him. You would never (openly) turn down a job to a woman because her womanly medical needs would cause a hike in the companys insurance premiums. You would never think an old woman lazy because her medical condition requires a wheelchair. But obese citizens experience all of these things day by day. They are the butt of endless jokes, as children they are more mistreated by their peers than any other demographic, and everything is made for someone half their size. If not it costs twice as much. It seems to me that the battle against fat is really a sinister social machine that chews up our self-confidence, our humanity and spits out money to somebody else.

What if we all just accepted our bodies for what they were? Flesh, with its variations between individuals, with its need for nutrition and physical activity, with its dimples and wrinkles and rolls. With its potential for system failure. What if chunky girls didnt starve themselves to look like Jenifer Aniston, and felt pretty just as they were. If every now and then the Oscar winning actress happened to be fat, if airline and movie seats were bigger for everybody, if schools had workout rooms and taught lifelong fitness. If a Happy Meal came with fruit and vegetables that kids loved. If we accepted that sometimes people die. What if whatever we weighed or looked like we loved our own body and took good care of it for as long as we could and then when it quit working we were allowed to leave this world with dignity and fond remembrance. In a world like that, no one would ever be "too fat".

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