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Guest Commentary
Bring Back Personal Responsibility, Not More Lawsuits
By Carrie Capuco
Personal responsibility got lost on its way to Maryland. Or so it seems.
Frivolous lawsuits threaten our peace of mind. On any given day, you will read personal injury lawyer advertisements in the newspaper, or hear them on the television and radio, promising big money and encouraging Marylanders to sue.
Lawsuit abuse is so pervasive in our society that even our teenagers are afraid of being sued. According to a 2004 survey commissioned by Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, 81 percent of Maryland teenagers said they would be concerned that they or their families would be sued if they caused an accident or were involved in a disagreement with somebody.
Our lawsuit-happy culture has eroded our sense of personal responsibility and bred a culture of fear. Certain greedy personal injury lawyers will encourage people to sue anytime anything goes wrong. Instead of accepting responsibility for their actions, people often times look for others to blame and file a lawsuit in hopes of striking it rich.
Take, for example, the lawsuits filed against fast food restaurants by people who claimed the food they ate contributed to their obesity and other health related problems. Some lawmakers in Maryland understood the frivolity of these lawsuits and introduced the Common Sense Food Consumption Act earlier this year. The legislation would prohibit people, who claimed the food they ate contributed to their obesity, from filing lawsuits against food manufacturers and sellers. Unfortunately, the General Assembly did not pass the legislation.
But what happened to the day when we didn’t need laws to enforce us to have some common sense? When did we lose our ability to accept the consequences of our actions? Why do we now look to others to blame, instead of taking responsibility for our choices? It seems that personal responsibility got lost along the way.
Today, lawsuit abuse runs rampant in states across the country and here in Maryland. Excessive litigation and “runaway” jury awards threaten our access to affordable health care, small businesses and even our parks’ playground equipment.
Some doctors are no longer entering high-risk specialties, such as delivering babies or performing neurosurgery. Others are retiring early or leaving the state because they simply cannot afford to practice in Maryland’s highly-litigious environment. We saw that firsthand earlier this year when doctors threatened to leave because of the outrageous medical malpractice insurance rates, in large part due to questionable lawsuits and “runaway” jury awards.
Our courts, in many instances, are being used for greed, not justice. And we are all paying for it.
That’s why Maryland Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (MDCALA) declared October 3-7 Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week. During Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week and throughout the year, MDCALA strives to educate the public about the costs and consequences of lawsuit abuse and to encourage personal responsibility.
It’s time to declare zero tolerance on lawsuit abuse. We must all do our part to fight frivolous lawsuits by being informed and encouraging personal responsibility. We should denounce “the blame game” and “I am going to sue” mentality, and instead urge people to accept the consequences of their actions and decisions.
Personal responsibility may have gotten lost on its way to Maryland, but we can bring it home.
Carrie Capuco is the executive director of Maryland Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (MDCALA). MDCALA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots public education organization dedicated to watching over the legal system and those who would seek to abuse it for undeserved gain. MDCALA strives to educate the public on the costs and consequences of lawsuit abuse.