Ok, I'll explain.
Tort reform would put limits on the amount of money that can be awarded in a lawsuit. While that sounds good, it can also screw the person who was harmed by the negligence of a company or person.
Suppose Lunatics Inc made a widget that they knew (and it can be shown they knew) was faulty or dangerous. Suppose Mr. John Q. Public died because of the faulty widget. He was 25 and had two small children.
What is the price of having your father at your Little League games, High School & College Graduation, or walk you down the aisle when you marry?
$250,000? $2.5 million? If the kid is 3 when Dad dies,
Suppose a Dr screws up and does irreparable harm to Jane Q. Public. She is 17 when it happens and will now need live-in help for the rest of her life.
If she lives to be 75, that is 58 years. $2.5 million dollars sounds like a lot. But it works out to be less than $45k a year. Hard to keep herself taken care of with that amount. And given the recent history of investments, thats not much of a guarantee either.
Suppose Lunatics Inc knew about the faulty widget, but between the recall and the bad press caused by the recall, they figured it would cost them $5 million. If the lawsuit limits were $2.5 million, it would be a smart business decision to leave the faulty widgets out there.
