A Washington Examiner editorial last week looked at the special influence that trial lawyers have on President Obama. According to the editorial, the president may grant trial lawyers a $1.6 billion special interest tax break without congressional approval. The tax break would allow plaintiffs’ attorneys to deduct litigation costs the same year they file contingency lawsuits. Typicially, these deductions have only been allowed if and when a case is lost. According to the editorial:

“It is unconscionable that ‘spread-the-wealth’ Obama should force taxpaying plumbers, waiters and bus drivers across America to shoulder up to 40 percent of the cost of wealthy trial lawyers’ litigation with this tax break. Worse, the tax break provides an effective reduction in lawsuit expenses, freeing up lawyers to file more suits that have less probability of success.”

Physicians and medical professionals see first-hand the overwhelming influence that trial lawyers can have over politicians in the back-and-forth struggle to pass tort reform. There are proven strategies that work to reduce the burden that unnecessary malpractice suits have on the legal and medical systems, but we are unable to implement them because of politics. Of course, the lawyers invest more in their PACs than we do, folks! If we were a bit more willing to defend ourselves, we could prevent this $1.6 billion tax break, which arguably would be better spent on health care.

And get this: About nine in 10 physicians said doctors order more tests and procedures than patients need so they can protect themselves against lawsuits, according to a study in the June 28 Archives of Internal Medicine. A story by American Medical News examines the study, which noted that the cost of defensive medicine is estimated to be $60 billion annually. What a waste. Let’s get some tort reform in a cleanup bill in 2011. The ACC is building a coalition to do just that!