On Monday, the Texas Senate held a legislative hearing on SB 30, Sen. Charles Schwertner’s lawsuit abuse reform bill. Throughout the all-day hearing, witness after witness came forward to tell their own personal stories and firsthand experience of lawsuit abuse in Texas, underscoring the need for greater transparency and consumer protections in the industry. As they testified, they gradually exposed the systemic approach some personal injury lawyers take to abuse their clients and drive up costs for all Texans.
Here is what they said, in their own words:
State Senator Schwertner laid out the facts about SB 30. He testified that it is about returning “transparency and fairness” to Texas’ legal system.
On the first panel, one witness noted that Texas is taking a stand against lawsuit abuse. SB 30 puts an end to inflated medical damages and protects honest litigation. No more fraudulent numbers that raise prices for all Texas consumers.
Continuing to chronicle the need for SB 30, that same witness explained how the bill is “about stopping lawyers and collaborating health care providers from cheating the system and committing fraud on the civil justice system.” He goes on to correctly note, “If it [lawsuit abuse] does not stop, the Texas miracle will stop.”
Funnel Clients to Preferred Medical Providers: The witness testified that every Texan pays an unfair tax when billboard attorneys funnel clients through a pipeline of medical providers who inflate costs for a higher recovery.
Witnesses and lawmakers repeatedly asked why an attorney should be controlling anybody’s medical treatment, with one personal injury attorney admitting it is “a common thing” for them to make medical recommendations to their clients.
According to an August 2023 LexisNexis survey of personal injury victims, 71% of respondents reported their attorney encouraged them to seek additional treatment, and 25% said their attorney was primarily responsible for setting their medical treatment. Almost half of respondents said their attorneys were involved in selecting doctors’ offices and determining specialists they saw.
Medical Providers Push Unnecessary Treatments: One witness, a former plaintiffs attorney, explained how clients call in tears over fear of unneeded surgeries. She is right in saying that this sort of lawsuit abuse hurts every Texas consumer, including the ones who are injured.
This harmful practice has been seen before. In one gutting instance uncovered by KFF Health News, a Florida car accident victim “died hours after [a spine] operation at a South Florida outpatient surgery center in March 2019.” According to a malpractice suit filed against the medical provider, the victim “was discharged home while still in pain and with signs and symptoms of post-operative complications.” The victim’s death saddled his widow with more than $100,000 in medical debt. Elsewhere across the country, nearly 200 women from 42 states “have joined a class-action suit that alleges doctors and lawyers talked them into signing LOPs [liens] promising to pay for surgical removal of pelvic mesh – whether they needed it or not.”
Businesses Cut Back To Hiring Because Of Lawsuit Abuse: One witness after another from Texas’ small business community described how lawsuit abuse is draining resources from their business, forcing them to cut back on key investments, downsize, or in some worst cases, close. Watch here:
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And, here:
These wide ranging accounts of lawsuit abuse in the Lone Star State lay bare the urgent need for litigation reform. Victims deserve to access the judicial system with respect, not be funneled into a system that leads to more pain and suffering.The Texas Senate should urgently pass this legislation and bring much-needed, meaningful relief to Texas’ consumers and small businesses.