Abbott Law Blog

I was listening to the Enid Greene program on KSL this Friday and Enid’s commentary reminded me of just how stupid the tort reform argument is.  Enid Greene argued that doctors do not order unnecessary tests when they will earn extra money by ordering the test but that doctors frequently order unnecessary tests to avoid the possibility of getting sued.

For those of you that don’t know, Enid Greene is a co-alum of mine at the BYU law school.  She went on to become a member of congress for a short time, then was the chair of the Utah Republican party and now hosts a radio show on KSL on Saturdays.

Enid Greene is in favor of tort reform.  She consistently rants about how tort laws increase the cost of health care.  She ignores studies that show that medical malpractice lawsuits add less than 1 penny for every dollar spent on health care.  She also claims that the mere threat of medical malpractice causes doctors to perform defensive medicine, thereby increasing the cost of health care.

So, this Saturday, she starts ranting against the Health Care Reform Legislation pending before congress.  One of the provisions would prevent doctors from owning hospitals and certain other medical facilities.  The reason for this is that studies have consistently shown that the number one factor in determining the frequency at which doctors order x-rays is whether the doctor owns the x-ray machine.  Now, it is fair to argue that the health care reform bill should not restrict a doctor’s right to own property.  That argument could be made on philosophical grounds, ie., in our free society, we should not prohibit a profession from owning certain types of property.

That is not the argument raised by Enid Greene.  Her argument is that she does not believe that doctors order more MRI’s when they have an ownership interest in the MRI machine.  Doctor’s would not order unnecessary tests to improve their financial condition.  Therefore, the legislation is not necessary.

So let me summarize.  Enid Greene does not believe a doctor will order more tests when the doctor gets a direct financial benefit from the billing for the use of the equipment but she strongly believes that doctors will order unnecessary tests because the doctor is afraid of getting sued.  She argues that the government should not regulate a doctor’s ownership of certain medical equipment because it is unnecessary but a the government should take away our right to trial by jury because doctors are driving up the cost of health care to protect their own back sides.

Her hypocritical and severely flawed logic show just how stupid the tort reform argument is.

Our right to trial by jury is sacrosanct.  We should not give it up.