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George Will has been a consistent point man for the corporations and medical doctors who don’t like the idea that they can be called into court for their negligence, dangerous products and drugs that kill and injure regular people. Most of us accept the lessons our parents taught us about being responsible when we make mistakes. Corporate America and the medical establishment do not want those rules to apply to them. They want to be able to hurt people through negligence and be given a pass. Our political leaders – often influenced by large campaign contributions look the other way and pass legislation shutting the court house doors and leaving injured persons and their families without remedies. I call it injustice. What do you call it?

Tom Young, a great consumer advocate and attorney in Tampa, Florida reviewed a recent propaganda piece by George Will where he makes up facts and ignores the truth. Here is Tome’s review:

In Will’s op-ed piece this morning in the Washington Post, the prolific conservative writer calls the U.S., "Litigation Nation" and claims residents of our country lack common sense because of the excessive litigation culture. Citing labels on fishing hooks warning users "not to swallow" or the household letter opener which reads "use of safety goggles recommended," Will longs for the times when "personal responsibility" ruled the day.

By the way, have you ever considered that these crazy warning labels that have become so much a part of popular culture are all really manufactured by tort deformers and corporate interests in a subversive effort to "show the public what greedy trial lawyers are doing to society"?… I digress… more from George Will:

"Today’s entitlement culture inculcates the idea that everyone is entitled to a life without danger, disappointment or aggravation. Any disagreement or annoyance can be aggressively framed in the language of legal deprivation."

Will’s lawyer bashing comes on the heels of the new book, "Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans From Too Much Law" by attorney Philip Howard. Will implores his followers to read Howard’s book and "weep for the death of common sense." For one, Mr. Howard claims that the pediatric obesity epidemic in this country is due in no small part to trial lawyers. Because the legal system has created a "cult of safety," playgrounds are being removed and recess eliminated in favor of "safer" idle activities such as playing Nintendo.

By the way, see the other tomes Mr. Howard has written of late. And, what and who is behind this group commongood.org which promotes his latest piece of work?

What is happening here is the dissemination of these false facts to support legislation across the country where doctors and corporations will seek protection from being responsible for their negligence. You will see a lot of this on TV and in the news as they bombard the public, along with naive legislators who don’t take the time to check the facts. In Hawaii where almost no claims are brought against doctors they are asking for additional legislation. Amazingly Hawaii legislators are leaning to wards granting this elite status to the privileged class of doctors. The fact that there is a crisis of negligence in the medical community and injuries and deaths to patients are at a crisis level, they want the status of royalty to protect their fragile egos and well stocked bank accounts. I have written on these subjects before such as in: Hawaii Medical Malpractice Alert: Good Doctors Cover-up for Bad Doctors , and WARNING! One Out of Five Doses of Medications Given In Hospitals is Wrong My good friend and great trail attorney, Greg Cusimano, from Alabama sent a short rebuttal to George Will about this shibai:

Sunday, January 11, 2009 12:45 PM

My letter to George Will: Mr. George Will, I have always respected your opinion, but you have been drinking the cool aid provided by those corporations that do not want to be held responsible for their wrongdoing. You are correct that we are a nation paralyzed by the threat of litigation. A thread fueled by such perception fostered by your article. Perception is reality, but reality is based on facts. The perception that we are law suit crazy culture is not. Please look at the Justice Department statistics published during the Bush Administration — the latest 2004. The number of lawsuits filed have dropped steadily almost every year in the last 10 or 15 years. The average and median verdict has dropped to ? (adjusted for inflation) of the average and median in 1992. Jury trials are vanishing. You can base your view on propaganda, it’s plentiful and paid for. I hope you will find the truth based on objective independent research. Greg Cusimano

If you want to know the origins and reasons why George Will and others do this, good reading is "The Attack on Trial Lawyers and Tort Law", by David C. Johnson. As with the financial crisis on Wall Street, the trillion dollar bailout, the big 3 automaker bailout and other evidence of rampant corporate greed, Will consistently spreads the message of profits over people. This current blatant proffering of false facts boils down to one simple word: money. Okay, greed is another good word.

How do you feel about giving doctors and corporations an elite status where they can’t be sued when they injure you?

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