• 11
  • February
    2012

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has, like his GOP counterparts, acknowledged the problem of skyrocketing healthcare costs. But, like his GOP counterparts, he has acknowledged the problem by supporting "tort reform" measures like caps on noneconomic damages, i.e. compensation awarded by juries for a victim's pain and suffering from medical malpractice.

That's all well and good. In a democracy, politicians are encouraged to support whatever measures they view appropriate to resolving the problem at hand.

But, as Patrick Malone writes for the Huffington Post, Santorum hasn't exactly voted with his heart, so to speak, for caps on damages, as he has with his head: When Santorum's wife was injured by a chiropractor she brought a medical malpractice lawsuit seeking $500,000 in compensation.

Damage caps in Texas do not limit the costs of medical bills, and in Karen Santorum's case, her medical bills were in the $18,000 range - considerably less than the $500,000 she asked for.

Note that both Santorum and his wife testified in court about Karen's leg numbness and back pain, in an effort to prove the case and persuade the jury.

And the jury was persuaded: it awarded Karen $350,000, which the trial judge reduced to $175,000.

Source: Rick Santorum's (and the GOP's) Damage Cap Problem