Ignoring the will of the General Assembly and the wishes of the people of the state, the Illinois Supreme Court last week caved in to the special interests of the lawsuit industry and reversed the common sense tort-reform law passed in 1995.
Illinois, regrettably, is once again safe for the lawsuit lottery that raises taxes and the cost of virtually every product and service people need, especially health care.
Numerous constitutional scholars–and the Supreme Courts of 20 other states–agree that reasonable reforms like the ones passed here meet constitutional standards similar or identical to those of Illinois. Our court, however, has arrogantly assumed for itself the role of determining public policy in our state. The tragedy of this outrageous judicial activism is that health care will not only be more expensive for everyone, but harder to find for many.
The costs of liability insurance and defensive medicine will continue to rise, and they will be passed along as more and more wasteful lawsuits are filed in search of a big award. Doctors and other providers will continue to find it difficult to locate in rural and urban underserved areas, where the patient base is too small to make up the huge, fixed liability costs imposed by the legal system.
Illinois would be much better served if legislating were left to the legislators elected for that purpose. The judicial system has again failed the public it seeks to protect, and it is time for the public to demand openness and accountability in the process.
