Greedy Trial Lawyer
You Can Forget The Expert Affidavit Baloney In Oklahoma Malpractice Cases
Category: Right On!
There must be something about the air in Oklahoma, something that gave eight of the justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court the guts to rule a medical malpractice tort reform provision passed in 2003 unconstitutional.
And, when you hear the simple logic of their reasoning you wonder why so many of the Supreme Court justices in other states have been so gutless in the face of special laws for special folks, the medical profession.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court made it easier Tuesday for Oklahomans to file medical malpractice lawsuits, striking down a legal provision it said sabotages equal access to the courts.The court ruled as unconstitutional a provision of a 2003 tort reform law that required someone suing a medical professional to get an expert in the field, usually a doctor, to say in an affidavit that the lawsuit had merit.
Without the affidavit, the lawsuit could not be filed.
With eight of nine justices concurring, the court said the provision was a special law that unconstitutionally applies only to people filing medical negligence claims. People filing any other negligence claim don't have to comply with the provision, it said.
The law also creates an unconstitutional monetary barrier to access to courts because a person filing the malpractice lawsuit must spend between $500 and $5,000 for an expert opinion on the lawsuit's merit, the court said.
It also said the provision created a windfall for insurance companies that benefit from a decreased number of cases to defend but aren't required to implement post-tort reform rates that decrease medical malpractice insurance for physicians.
Source: The Daily Oklahoman
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