The Ohio Department of Insurance recently reported that medical malpractice claims have hit a new low in Ohio in 2012. You would think that this is good news as it should mean that less patients are being harmed by preventable medical errors. But unfortunately that is not the case at all. In fact, as reported by Forbes ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/09/23/stunning-news-on-preventable-deaths-in-hospitals/), medical errors now claim the spot as the third leading cause of death in the United States, dwarfing auto accidents, diabetes, and everything else besides cancer and heart disease. To put this figure in perspective, hospitals are killing off the equivalent of the entire population of Atlanta in just one year. That's a heck of a lot of people,folks! So why are there so few medical malpractice claims in Ohio? The answer is simple: tort reform. Big business and insurance companies have succeeded in persuading our lawmakers to give them every possible advantage over injured victims. At Rourke & Blumenthal, we've always believed that juries should decide cases based on the facts, not lawmakers who know nothing about the case. We believe that everyone should have access to the courtroom. Currently, this is not the case at all. Our jury system is one of the definining principles of democracy. Let's standup against lawmakers who try to control and influence it with unecessary laws.
