Witness: “The current system in Texas allows for trial attorneys and medical providers to use victims as ATMs”

Washington, D.C. – Protecting American Consumers Together (PACT), a 501(c)(4) national advocacy and educational organization, today released the following statement after the second round of public testimony last night on HB 4806, legislation that would address lawsuit abuse in Texas:

“Last night’s hearing exposed the rampant fraud and abuse in the current legal system in Texas,” said PACT Executive Director Lauren Zelt. “We encourage lawmakers in the Texas House to support legislation to protect consumers and ensure that plaintiffs can access the legal system with the dignity and respect they deserve.” 

Ahead of last night’s hearing, PACT released a rapid response video recapping the morning’s testimony, where witness after witness called attention to a system that leads victims into a ‘web of exploitation’ and raises prices for all Texans. The video can be watched here. 

Hear from witnesses in their own words last night:

Medical billing expert and Texas resident Dee Soule: “When someone gets injured and calls a personal injury attorney… victims are often pulled into a shadow system where charges are inflated, relationships are undisclosed, and medical billing is manipulated to support lawsuits, not patient care.”

Soule continued, “But if you are hurt in a car crash and your lawyer sends you to a personal injury doctor, all of those guardrails vanish. A small circle of providers and attorneys can inflate the sticker price four, six, even ten times, then present those inflated bills to a jury as though they were the undisputed truth.”

Further, Soule said, “The current system in Texas allows for trial attorneys and medical providers to use victims as ATMs, and I believe that is unacceptable. The truth is, I’m angry, and it needs to stop. HB 4806 is one step in the right direction.”

Another witness said, “It’s fraud, OK. It’s abject fraud. These doctors know what they should be charging or what they’re gonna get paid.”

Finally, a separate witness described “how bills for routine procedures can go from $1,500 to $150,000 due to the referral network between medical providers and personal injury attorneys.”

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