Why Caps on Damages Benefit Only Insurers

Even if there was evidence that caps worked to keep down insurance premiums (there isn’t), maintaining caps at the same levels for decades makes a mockery of our civil justice system (“Damage Cap Hits Some Hard,” July 13).

Lawyers cannot justify taking on cases in which the maximum recovery to the client is $250,000, when the cost of litigation will run $25,000 to $35,000 (much of it paid to physician experts) and attorney’s fees are severely limited by law.

Insurance premiums have risen 168% since 1975; the value of the cap on damages has decreased 68%. You do the math.

The insurance industry is profiting at the expense of the most severely injured patients and those who die from medical mistakes.

Linda Fermoyle Rice

Attorney at law

Woodland Hills

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One of the major stumbling blocks in providing a more equitable solution is the inability of the prevailing party to recover its litigation expenses from the losing party.

Removing this impediment alone will probably reduce the number of frivolous suits as evidenced by the fact that “eight out of 10 cases

This will also provide added compensation to the real victims because they will no longer be required to bear the cost for the litigation, which may be more than one-third of their total compensation.

Dr. John T. Chiu

Newport Beach