Medical Malpractice Cap TV Ads Blame A Father’s Death on Lawyers

2003 POLITICAL ADS Californian Blames Dad's Death On Lawyers By Mark H. Rodeffer, NationalJournal.com © National Journal Group Inc. Thursday, April 24, 2003

In a TV commercial pushing caps on malpractice awards, Californian Mary Rasar tells the story of her father, Jim Lawson, who died last summer in Las Vegas after a trauma center there "was put out of business" by "frivolous lawsuits."

"Emergency rooms across America are closing for the same reason, and people like my father are dying," Rasar says in the spot. Saying that "frivolous lawsuits by personal injury lawyers made it impossible for the surgeons to practice," Rasar urges viewers to call their senators telling them "to support medical liability reform now."

The ad, sponsored by the Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Health Care, began airing statewide on Monday with the heaviest concentration in the Las Vegas market. Brett Ethridge of Policy Impact Strategic Communications, the consultant that produced the ads, said the "pretty sizeable buy" will last through May 4 and possibly longer.

Lawson's death was notable in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported [see http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Jul-06-Sat-2002/news/19129765.html], because he was "the first Las Vegan to die from trauma injuries" after the University Medical Center's Trauma Center closed on July 3. Rasar spoke about her father's death at a March 6 Capitol Hill press conference [see http://www.carh.net/photo_display.asp?t=rasar].

The House on March 13 passed the HEALTH Act, H.R. 5 [see http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.00005:], which would cap non-economic damages at $250,000. The Senate could take up the issue later this spring.

On the other side of the issue, USAction began running TV ads [see (1) below] this week urging undecided senators to vote against malpractice caps.

In a multistate TV campaign in March, CARH ran a TV spot [see (2) below] with a similar personal story, and in January the group ran a commercial [see (3) below] in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Ad Spotlight [http://nationaljournal.com/members/adspotlight/] has the latest commercials from the 2003 and 2004 campaigns, issue/advocacy groups and searchable archives dating back to 1997 [http://nationaljournal.com/members/adspotlight/search.htm].

MARY RASAR [v/o]: My name's Mary. On July Fourth, my father was in an accident. The trauma center that could have saved his life was 10 minutes down that road. It was closed. (On screen: Rasar places flowers at base of cross next a highway.)

Frivolous lawsuits by personal injury lawyers made it impossible for the surgeons to practice, and the trauma center was put out of business. Emergency rooms across America are closing for the same reason, and people like my father are dying. Call your senators. Tell them to stop supporting personal injury lawyers and to support medical liability reform now.

(On screen: Real People... Real Stories... A Real Crisis. Call your Senators; 202-224-3121; www.carh.net; Paid for by the Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Health Care)

To view the ad, you will need a current version of RealPlayer™, which is available for free from the Progressive Networks Web site.

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2003 POLITICAL ADS USAction Ads Oppose Malpractice Caps By Meg Kinnard, NationalJournal.com © National Journal Group Inc. Thursday, April 24, 2003

Advocacy coalition USAction became the latest group to join the tort reform debate this week, launching three ads urging senators to vote against medical malpractice caps.

One spot features South Dakota parents Shawnna and Vernon Gardner, whose two-year-old son Owen died of dehydration following a hospital visit. "You go to a hospital or you go to the doctor, and you trust them," Vernon says, adding that if someone in the insurance industry lost a child due to medical error, "they won't be concerned about putting caps on malpractice."

Another ad features Linda McDougal, a 46-year-old Navy veteran who underwent an unnecessary double mastectomy because of a "mix-up" at the hospital lab. "A group of politicians want to take my right to a trial by jury away," McDougal says. "I dare them to go to one of these victims' houses and see how it has affected these families.

Using a convenience store scenario to describe the insurance industry, a store clerk in the third spot explains the high cost of a candy bar because "my investments lost a lot of money" and "so I'm gouging my customers." When insurance companies "lose," an announcer says, they "want you and your doctor to pay for their mistakes."

All three ads -- which began airing on Wednesday in Idaho, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Vermont in a buy totaling $200,000 to $250,000 -- are expected to remain on the air through Sunday. The New York-based Center for Justice & Democracy oversaw ad production, which was provided by North Woods Advertising.

According to a USAction press release, the ad launch was prompted by House passage of the HEALTH Act, H.R. 5, which would limit "non-economic" medical malpractice awards to $250,000. All three spots encourage viewers to call their senators before that chamber takes up S. 607, its counterpart to the bill, which has been placed on the Senate calendar.

As House consideration of H.R. 5 began last month, McDougal told her story in a similar TV ad produced for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. She testified before a joint meeting of the Senate Judiciary and Health Committees in mid-February.

Several other organizations have been on the air on both sides of the medical malpractice debate, including the Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Health Care, which debuted a new spot on Monday.

USAction refers to itself as "nation's largest progressive activist organization" and lists the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union among its 33 affiliates.

Ad Spotlight has the latest commercials from the 2003 and 2004 campaigns, issue/advocacy groups and searchable archives dating back to 1997.

SHAWNNA GARDNER: Owen celebrated his second birthday. It was a Sunday. You know, he started vomiting about 10 o'clock on Tuesday. VERNON GARDNER: You to go a hospital, or you go to the doctor, and you trust them.

SHAWNNA GARDNER: All he needed was an IV. Owen died at 3 o'clock on Wednesday. It's unheard of in the United States. You don't lose children to dehydration!

VERNON GARDNER: They lose one of their sons or daughters to medical malpractice. They won't be concerned about putting caps on damages.

(On screen: The insurance industry wants Congress to take away patients' rights. Tell them NO. CALL YOUR U.S. SENATORS TODAY; 202-224-3121; Paid For By USAction; www.usaction.org)

LINDA McDOUGAL: I asked these doctors specifically, and each one of them said that I would have both my breasts removed. They surgeon finally came in, and she said: "There was a mix-up at the lab. You never had cancer." I've got 31 inches of scars on my chest. I don't have anything that even comes close to resembling a breast.

(On screen: The insurance industry wants Congress to take away patients' rights. Tell them NO.)

A group of politicians want to take my right to a trial by jury away. I dare them to go to one of these victims' houses and see how it has affected these families. It's not fair.

(On screen: CALL YOUR U.S. SENATORS TODAY; 202-224-3121; Paid For By USAction; www.usaction.org)

ANNOUNCER [v/o]: What if everybody ran their business like the insurance industry? STORE CLERK: That'll be 14 dollars and three cents.

STORE CLERK: Yeah, but my investments lost a lot of money so I'm gouging my customers.

ANNOUNCER [v/o]: They lose. We pay. That's the truth about the medical malpractice bill. Insurance companies want you and your doctor to pay for their mistakes.

ANNOUNCER [v/o]: Tell your senator you want judges and juries deciding what's fair -- not insurance companies.

(On screen: Call your U.S. Senator; 1-202-224-3121; Paid For By USAction; www.usaction.org)

To view the ad, you will need a current version of RealPlayer™, which is available for free from the Progressive Networks Web site.

2003 POLITICAL ADS Health Care Providers Back Lawsuit Caps By Mark H. Rodeffer, NationalJournal.com © National Journal Group Inc. Thursday, March 20, 2003

The Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Health Care, a group of medical care businesses, launched a multimillion dollar ad campaign this week pushing the Senate to approve caps on malpractice lawsuit awards.

The group wants the Senate to follow the House passing the HEALTH Act of 2003, a bill that limits non-economic damages at $250,000 and puts limits on attorney's contingency fees.

CARH's TV ad features Nancy Schwerin, a mother who says her son "was rushed to the hospital with a head injury," only to find no neurosurgeon because "lawsuit abuse by personal injury lawyers has made it too expensive for them to treat children." Her son recovered, but she asks viewers: "How many children will not get the care they need before Congress changes the law?"

The commercial went up Tuesday morning in a national buy on cable news channels, according to Bill Nixon of Policy Impact Strategic Communications, the firm that produced the ad. Nixon said the ad is airing in more than six states and will likely expand to 16 states, but he declined to name any specific markets or states where the ad is on TV. He said that the total TV budget for the campaign is "in the millions."

The House approved the HEALTH Act, H.R. 5, on March 13, and the Senate could take it up before the end of the month.

In January, CARH ran a similar TV ad, which the American Hospital Association paid to air again in March as the House debated the legislation.

Ad Spotlight has the latest commercials from the 2003 and 2004 campaigns, issue/advocacy groups and searchable archives dating back to 1997.

(On screen: Nancy Schwerin) NANCY SCHWERIN [v/o]: My name's Nancy. Only months ago, I thought my world was ending. My son was rushed to the hospital with a head injury. We tried to find a neurosurgeon to help him, but lawsuit abuse by personal injury lawyers has made it too expensive for them to treat children. My son recovered, but how many children will not get the care they need before Congress changes the law? Call your senators.

Tell them to stop supporting personal injury lawyers and to support medical liability reform now.

(On screen: Real people... Real stories... A real crisis.; Paid for by the Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Health Care)

2003 POLITICAL ADS Hospital Association Wants Malpractice Caps By Meg Kinnard, NationalJournal.com © National Journal Group Inc. Thursday, March 13, 2003

As the House began considering medical malpractice legislation today, the American Hospital Association was on TV suggesting that excessive lawsuits are forcing some doctors to abandon their practices.

The TV spot features Leanne Dyess, a woman whose husband was in a single car accident near Gulfport, Miss., in July. Dyess says in the ad that the "family fell victim to a crisis in health care." Upon rushing to the hospital, Dyess continues, they found that "the surgeons who could have helped him were no longer there" because "lawsuits against doctors and hospitals have made it too expensive for them to practice."

As a result of the accident, AP reported, Tony Dyess now "requires constant care, is unable to communicate, to work and to provide for his family." Leanne Dyess took her family's story to Capitol Hill in February, when she testified in front of both the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Health committees.

AHA spokeswoman Amy Lee said that the release of the ad was timed to coincide with congressional debate on H.R. 5, the HEALTH Act of 2003. Scheduled for debate on the House floor today, this legislation would cap non-economic medical malpractice awards at $250,000, while setting no limit on actual economic damages.

Lee said that "Leanne" originally ran in early January in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., and was created by Policy Impact Strategic Communications. The Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Health Care paid for the production and the January run, while the current buy is funded by the AHA. The ad is now on the air only in Washington.

Earlier this month, the AHA joined other groups in TV ads aired by the Covering the Uninsured coalition.

Ad Spotlight has the latest commercials from the 2003 and 2004 campaigns, issue/advocacy groups and searchable archives dating back to 1997.

LEANNE DYESS [v/o]: My name is Leanne, and on July 5th, my family fell victim to a crisis in health care. My husband was in an accident. He was rushed to the hospital, but the surgeons who could have helped him were no longer there. Lawsuits against doctors and hospitals have made it too expensive for them to practice. We didn't get the care we needed, and today we suffer. But you don't have to. Congress can change the law. Tell Congress to support medical liability reform now.

(On screen: Real People... Real Stories... A Real Crisis. AHA; American Hospital Association; Call Congress; 202-225-3121; Paid For By The American Hospital Association)

I hope this approach works. Medical malpractice litigation is out of control. The risks doctors face are ridiculous. When they save a life, they don't get paid the value of that life. If the doctor is lucky, the patient pays a fee that is usually a pittance in relation to the benefit conferred on the patient.

But when doctors make a mistake -- a sometimes even when they do their best but the result is bad -- they are supposed to pay full "compensation," including abstract numbers for pain and suffering that have no relationship to any real loss.

Doctor's are rapidly abandoning areas and fields with lots of lawsuits. I't not just trauma. Obstetrics is a risky field. Everyone wants a perfect baby, and they sue if they don't get one.

The fact is, the fields that mean life and death are just that, matters of life and death. We have to make sure we don't lose specialists in these areas, because then everyone loses. We will lose specialists if every family that loses someone gets a huge settlement.

Personally, I think we can get people to agree on a malpractice cap if we raise the amount to say, a million dollars, maybe we could even get by on half a million. Personally, for most cases that actually are malpractice, I think that $250,000 or less is just compensation. However, at the same time I think there could be cases where I would think that $250,000 was not enough, perhaps a death of a child through negligence. Also, there should be some sort of "check" on which medical malpractice cases make it to court. I think two things could work here: either a panel of physicians and lawyers could decide if a case has merit before going to court, or one could make the plantiff pay all court costs of the defendant in cases when the defended is clear of wrong doing by a jury. Finally, physicians need to quit the "good ole boy system" in this regard. There should be a "crack down" on physicians who continually make these kinds of mistakes. I understand that the nature of malpractice litigation has developed a "circle the wagons" kind of philosophy from the doc's, but physicians need to be honest about the situation when there really is a bad physician.

I think all these suggestiosn would go a long way to helping if not solving this problem.

physicians need to be honest about the situation when there really is a bad physician.

all excellent suggestions.

we need new laws to allow physician performance oversight with teeth; this power will have to come from the legislatures, who really like the cash stream the ambulance chasers provide and don't seem too enthusiastic about changing how professionals can be regulated based on performance.

try to weed out a bad doc from inside the medical system and guess who shows up??
with a swift change of moniker from protector of patients to defender of doctors' rights, our all-purpose bottom feeders then stymie efforts to curb bad practitioners.

lack of access to high-risk fields of medical care is a fast growing problem, and more will be needlessly damaged or die from this lack before we get both a strong system for medical oversight and riddance of our scourge of lawyers.

In California, at least, there ARE caps on attorneys fees. Fees are strictly limited and, if you get a judgment and need to defend it the appeals courts, you get no more pay for doing so. These cases are extremely expensive to try, typically with litigation costs of $40-60K, and good luck getting the client to reimburse you if you lose. As far as putting a dollar figure on what your kids are worth, dollars are all the legal system can give you. What redress would YOU have the law give? As for you, lady lawyer, I'm surprised, given your screen name, to see you poo-poo pain and suffering. There's been a lot of very successful insurance company propoganda to the effect that it does not even exist. To which I would respond to any healthy person: You go from being a hale and hearty person to being a cripple or a vegetable because someone else was careless, and then tell me that the loss of quality of life has no value. The truth in this debate, as in many things, is somewhere in the middle, and just swallowing either side's party line does disservice to the debate.

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