Vioxx victims come under attack for filing lawsuits

United States is fast becoming the only country in the world where the government is actually actively working to take away the rights of Vioxx victims and protecting Merck (Related article: FDA sides with Merck in Vioxx recall case), the manufacturer of the drug. According to government's own estimates, which typically tend to undercount deaths, the current Vioxx death toll stands at a staggering 139,000 Americans.

While governments in other countries are working overtime to figure out what to do with Cox-2 drugs and help the victims of Vioxx, the US President declares that, "...What's happening all across this country is that lawyers are filing baseless suits...That means you're paying for junk lawsuits every time you go to see your doctor..." Bush also presented many other statistics at a speech yesterday that most analysts do not agree with. In fact his own Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy says, "The Congressional Budget Office estimated that malpractice costs account for about 2 percent of health care spending, equaling about $28 billion per year." By contrast, pharmaceutical costs are estimated at between 12% and 16% of health care costs. "If President Bush wants to create more affordable and accessible health care, he should allow Americans to buy their prescription drugs through bulk purchasing programs as Canadians do and he will reduce health care costs by up to 10%," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "The President should not be scaring the public into falsely believing they must give up their right to go court out of fear of losing their ability to go to an emergency room." (Related article: Americans scared after Vioxx recall)

Yesterday's invitation-only meeting in Illinois was attended primarily by doctors (How many doctors wear lab coats outside of labs, and interestingly enough, at social events in auditoriums?) and small business owners. The President did not meet with any victims who have been hurt by Vioxx. Twenty-nine survivors of medical malpractice in Illinois sent a letter to him saying, "It is unacceptable for you to meet with doctors, or with representatives from hospitals, drug companies, HMOs, and the insurance industry - indeed with all the corporate interests who would benefit from your cruel medical malpractice legislation - while failing to meet with the very people who will be hurt most." They further pleaded, "We cannot compete with these kinds of financial contributions from special interest lobby groups. But we are citizens who have lost a tremendous amount and you need to listen to our stories as well." (Related article: Vioxx manufacturer made campaign contributions to recently elected politicians)

Several analysts agree that the class action lawsuits are not the culprit but with Vioxx class action lawsuits exploding and other lawsuits being filed in case of injury by Celebrex and Bextra, the pressure from companies like Pfizer and Merck on lawmakers has increased, particularly after millions of dollars were paid in campaign contributions in the recent election. Jay Angoff, director of the Missouri Department of Insurance from 1993 to 1998, said in a conference call that the problem actually lies with the insurance industry, another major contributor to recently elected Republicans, "The president is doing the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong place. Insurance companies have never made more money than they did in 2004. The insurers are rolling in dough; they're swimming in dough," Mr. Angoff said. (Related article: Americans want to retaliate against Merck after Vioxx recall mess)

Data released last month by Weiss Ratings reveal that insurance industry profits were up 54% in the first six months of 2004. The data follow a trend of increasing insurance industry profitability, even as malpractice insurers claim rising costs are forcing them to raise doctors' premiums.

U.S. businesses file lawsuits four times more often than individuals, according to an analysis of states and counties that keep such data by a non-partisan group, Public Citizen. Moreover, businesses are 69 percent more likely to be sanctioned by federal judges for filing frivolous lawsuits than are tort plaintiffs and their attorneys, according to an analysis of the 100 most recent cases where such sanctions were imposed. (Related article: Preparations begins for tough Vioxx litigation)

The frequently cited study that contends lawsuits cost taxpayers well over $200 billion per year (the so-called 'tort tax') has been repudiated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). According to CBO, the costs estimated by Tillinghast-Towers Perrin 'merely shift money from injured to victims and thus are not true costs to society.' These 'costs' are actually the total cost of the liability insurance industry, and they would not disappear even if the legal system did not exist. Overall, 46 percent of the tort cost estimate is for payments made to injured victims for lost wages, medical care, and pain and suffering. These costs are the result of injuries caused by defendants and would be borne by society anyway, through private health insurance, government programs and charities, or by being absorbed by victims and their families. And 21 percent of the tort cost estimate is for insurance industry overhead. (Related article: Vioxx victims in Michigan and Texas cannot file lawsuits against Merck and Pfizer)

Tort lawsuit filings have decreased 9 percent overall from 1992 through 2001, according to a joint tracking project of the Conference of State Court Administrators, the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for State Courts. The filing data from 30 states represent a total of 74 percent of the U.S. population. When adjusted for population growth, tort filings declined by 15 percent, from 269 to 228 per 100,000 over that period.

"President Bush doesn't let facts get in the way when it comes to his political goal of dismantling the legal system," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. "He prefers to coddle campaign contributors, rather than protect consumers and patients," added Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch. "This is not a debate among reasonable people. It is a massive campaign of distortions carried out by the administration in league with its business allies. The fact is, the emperor has no clothes." (Related article: Merck continues its ferocious attack on Vioxx victims)

In the meantime a memo prepared for Republican lawmakers entitled 'The Language of Lawsuit Abuse Reform' has been leaked and it argues that those seeking to limit medical liability need to fan the public's fear about the threat to closure of medical facilities ("Nothing scares a person more than needing emergency medical care and not being able to get it") and to use 'crisis' words that invoke fear of lost services ("crippling our health care system...lawsuit epidemic...The price of saving lives is just too high...too many doctors are leaving and too many hospitals are closing"). (Related article: Attorneys soothe nerves of Vioxx victims)

But many analysts agree that it is the poorest Americans that get hurt the most when their rights are taken away. "If you cannot find an attorney, you will not have your day in court, and the caps on jury awarded damages advocated by President Bush will prevent individuals with legitimate cases on behalf of low wage earners, seniors and children from finding attorneys," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, who has worked with hundreds of medical malpractice victims in California. "President Bush should not represent a cap as fair and just when it blocks access to justice for the most vulnerable patients. He should be discussing how to regulate insurance company profiteering and behavior, not allowing those who cause human suffering to escape legal accountability."

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