Last night Virginia elected a new Governor. Bob McDonnell said during his acceptance speech he would put an end to frivolous litigation.
Bob, an attorney, and our past Attorney General in Virginia, should know better.
Fact: There’s an epidemic of medical negligence, not lawsuits. According to the AAJ, only one in eight people injured by medical negligence ever file suit. Civil filings have declined eight percent over the last decade, and are less than one percent of the whole civil docket. A 2006 Harvard study found that 97 percent of claims were meritorious, stating, “portraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolous litigation are overblown.”
Bob, under Virginia law (which you know) you cannot have a Medical Malpractice lawsuit served unless physicians have certified under oath, that someone else was negligent.
This bar prohibits frivolous suits from ever being served as a matter of law. Further, if we don’t think you have a very good case, we are not going to spend our money, your money, your time and efforts for naught. Insurance companies don’t offer settlements on frivolous suits – and rightfully so.
So here is an idea on how to end frivolous lawsuits and save Virginians money, end medical negligence. That would make you one very popular Govenor!