Lynn N. Rivers: “I offer the committee the words of one Frank Cornelius, who says ``I think tort reform as we know it is totally bad. We…”

“I offer the committee the words of one Frank Cornelius, who says ``I think tort reform as we know it is totally bad. We have a judicial system that I find quite adequate, if allowed to function in its own way;'' so you have to ask, who is Frank Cornelius? Is he some parasitic trial lawyer? Is he some rabid consumer rights advocate? No, Frank Cornelius is a lobbyist for the insurance industry. He was part of an effort in Indiana to cap noneconomic damages. What happened to Frank Cornelius? Soon after these caps were put in place, major malpractice was worked upon him. He expects to die within the next 2 years from those problems. He has a different point of view now that he sees the problem from the side of a patient, as opposed to the side of the insurance industry. He acknowledges there is a certain poetic justice to the injury that he suffered, but he adds ``If there is a God, and I believe there is, what happened to me has a purpose. It changed my way of thinking and looking at things.'' He says ``Medical negligence cannot be reduced by simply restricting consumers' legal rights.'' That is what is being proposed here. Mr. Cornelius found this out the hard way. Mr. Chairman, how many other citizens will have to learn this selfsame lesson? Not many, I hope.”