This cracked me up:
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who made his fortune as a trial lawyer, says attorneys should have to show their medical malpractice cases have merit before filing them.
He also said attorneys with a history of frivolous suits should be barred from filing new cases.
Edwards’ proposal is similar to “certificates of merit” laws that have been adopted in several states in recent years. Those laws usually require that an independent doctor assert the validity of a malpractice case before it is filed.
Speaking Monday at a health care forum hosted by Families USA and the Kaiser Foundation, Edwards also said that while reducing malpractice lawsuits, as many have advocated, is a good idea, it won’t significantly affect health care costs.
You can have all the hoops you want, but unless there is some form of loser pays for speculative lawsuits — as distinct from frivolous ones — you do not have tort reform.
