Merchants of Death Find Lawsuits Lethal

This just in.. A group of conservative scholars has concluded definitively that not only is tort litigation a tax on every pocketbook, but it's lethal, too! Given that death or dismemberment is practically a prerequisite these days before filing a personal injury lawsuit of any value, this seems like a stretch. But the brain trust of the Pacific Research Institute concludes that exactly 114,000 people have died needlessly over the past 20 years because lawsuits have allegedly restricted access to health care and kept life-saving products off the market.

Strangely, the researchers also lament that lawsuits have hurt the economy by wiping out thousands of asbestos jobs--you know, the ones that give you and your kids lung cancer. But then again, the study's introduction is written by Mississippi governor and premiere Washington tobacco lobbyist Haley Barbour, who recently went to court and successfully defunded the nation's premiere anti-smoking program. The program had reduced smoking among Mississippi's middle school students by more than 40 percent in just a few short years. The Institute itself is funded by the cigarette industry.

Despite the obvious silliness in the Merchants of Death warning that lawsuits are lethal, I'm sure plenty of elected officials already are preparing to blandish the study in their eternal quest for "fairness" in the legal system. Blawgletter has a nice send up of the study, with links to the Wall Street Journal op-ed today touting the research...