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84
T H E C L A S S E S
From the Reader continued from page 6
history. This comes from a great-grandson
of a Union prisoner in Andersonville [Ga.].
Charles L. King, BE’53
Asheville, N.C.
Pursuant to Jack D. Walker’s request of
you to “please poll the alumni” as to whether
the “famous Fugitives” would prefer the name
“Confederate Memorial Hall” to remain on
that building or not:
I think they would vote yes. That’s OK. I
would vote no. That’s OK.
I conclude: So it’s a tie.
That’s OK, too.
Michael B. Sonnen, BE’62
Redlands, Calif.
S u m m e r 2 0 0 5
Wrong Words
In the Spring 2005 edition of Vanderbilt
Magazine, Dr. G. Octo Barnett (BA’52) questions
the veracity of President Bush’s comments
[in the Fall 2004 issue] that “frivolous
lawsuits are running up the cost of medicine”
[“From the Reader,” p. 5]. Dr. Barnett
recounts his recollection of studies showing
that malpractice costs comprise less than 1
percent of the cost of medical care.
Dr. Barnett is correct, and he is supported
by recent studies conducted in my
state of Texas. As reported in the March 10,
2005, Washington Post (page A8):
“The Texas study found little to support
those assertions [by President Bush that baseless
lawsuits against doctors and hospitals
are dramatically driving up health-care costs].
By virtually any measure—from number of
claims filed to damages paid out—the data
reflect amazing stability in the tort system,
according to the peer-reviewed paper that
will appear in the May issue of the Journal
of Empirical Legal Studies. ‘The clear implication
is that ‘runaway medical malpractice
litigation’ makes a poor poster child for the
cause of tort reform,’ the researchers wrote.
‘The malpractice litigation system has many
flaws, but at least in Texas, sudden increases
in claim frequencies and costs appear not to
have been among them.’
“ … Malpractice insurance premiums in
Texas rose an average of 135 percent from
1999 to 2002, prompting the state legislature
to cap non-economic damages in 2003.
“Analyzing claims data from 1988 to 2002,
the team found little change in the number
of claims filed or the total amount paid in