Dear Editor:

Part and parcel of the “health care deform” debate has included references to what is being labeled as “tort reform”. Those calling for such are laying a significant portion of health care costs on “frivolous medical malpractice cases” and/or trial lawyers. I do not profess to be an expert in the area of medical malpractice, but I would dispute that there is a significant number of “frivolous” malpractice suits being filed, at least in Georgia. One of the reasons is that the plaintiff’s lawyer may be held personally and financially responsible for the costs and legal expenses of the defendant if he/she files any frivolous lawsuit, malpractice or otherwise. Secondly, Georgia law requires that any medical malpractice suit must be accompanied by an affidavit from another physician, presently in practice in the same field as the defendant, and the failure to do so will result in the case being dismissed. If a case is genuinely frivolous, the defendant’s attorney would be ethically obligated to file motions to dispose of the case before it is ever tried. Hence, and again, at least in Georgia, a frivolous medical malpractice case is simply improbable unless the plaintiff’s attorney wants to run the risk of being assessed for the defendant’s attorney’s fees and other costs of litigation, or that the defendant’s attorney is completely inept and allows a frivolous case to be presented to a jury, which would subject that attorney to an action for professional malpractice. Anyway, if this country ultimately ends up with a government controlled single-payer system, no one will have the right to seek damages for medical malpractice, irrespective of the degree of negligence involved.

Julian Mack

West Point