Maybe caps on damages make insurance rates go up!

Doctors have long argued that states should cap noneconomic damages as a way of lowering medical malpractice insurance rates. But the state of Oregon did away with such caps in 1999, and by golly, according to a new study, not only did the state survive, but the frequency and amount of jury awards in malpractice cases remained unaffected, and recently, doctor's insurance rates went down, too! The study found that caps were far less effective in getting rid of lawsuits than restrictions on expert witnesses and shorter statutes of limitations, more evidence that Walter Olson has been right when arguing that the tort reform movement should stop fighting about damage caps and focus on procedural issues that the public doesn't understand and therefore won't resist....