A recent lawsuit against Skilled Healthcare California LLC has had little or no coverage and it is amazing. Skilled Healthcare California was hit with a penalty of $671 million dollars by a Humboldt County jury. And that does not even include the punitive damages. The core issue was whether the company violated a state law requiring nursing homes to provide a minimum of 3.2 nursing hours per patient per day (ppd). The key word here is minimum.

Senior care in this state and country is a huge issue. Skilled Healthcare has never received one complaint against it on the California Nursing Home Directory. However, this did not stop the plaintiffs' attorneys. The judgement was leveled against Skilled Nursing on behalf of the 32,000 patients it has in California, awarding the maximum damages over a six year period to the whole class.

This is a company that provides 14,000 jobs to people in California. Its stock price plummeted 75% on news of the judgement. It looks like it cannot appeal the decision because to do so you have to post a bond of 150% to do so and its assets are approximately $2 million. It has also exhausted its primary professional liability insurance.

Skilled Healthcare California has 22 facilities in California. What happens now?  Does it file for bankruptcy? Close it's doors? What happens to the 14,000 employees? Are they let go? Considering this state has the third worst unemployment rate in the nation that would be a disaster. And what about the 32,000 patients?

The whole thing is a mess. How can this happen? There has to be a better way. The only people that are truly are going to benefit from this sham of a class action are the shameless trial lawyers. Since the punitive damages have not been awarded, I have not seen their fee, but it will likely fall between 30% and 40% of the total award. All because this jury in Humboldt did not feel the company met a nursing patient ratio. Unbelievable.

The North County Times reports that "9 in 10 docs blame lawsuit fears for overtesting and MDs also agree more protection is needed from litigious patients"

We all pay the price for lawsuit abuse. Any substantial Heathcare Reform plan should have included a serious effort to address the problem of malpractice lawsuit abuse! We need a national version of California's MICRA laws that limit the amount for punitive damages to $250,000.

Yes, real victims need to be compensated for their injury, but as long as we reward plaintiffs lawyers with inflated payouts our healthcare system will remain under siege.

We should listen to the doctors who, as you report, tell us they are doing unnecessary tests just to protect themselves from these unwarranted malpractice suits. That is money that could othewise be used to expand the coverage those who really do need healthcare.

As malpractice lawsuit abuse attacks our medical industry, It could ultimately drive our doctors out of business, and that will have a direct impact on all of us!

The death of former Assemblyman Keith Richman last Friday is a great loss for California, on many different levels. He was a Republican Assemblyman representing the 38th District in the state from 2000 to 2006. He was a huge advocate for pension and healthcare reform before it was the thing to do and he was always above partisan politics.

For California CALA it is also a loss. Keith Richman served on our Statewide Advisory Council.  He served on the Council for two years and was a strong tort reformer. He was always willing to take on the trial lawyers and did it with passion. As a doctor he knew the importance of tort reform in the healthcare field.

Keith Richman was a true reformer. He knew that lawsuits were not a partisan issue. Lawyers don't check your party registration before they file a lawsuit. I know he will be missed by a large number of people on both sides of the aisle. He was a great man, a great father and husband and a great public servant. The state of California has truly lost a class act. CACALA extends to his family and friends our deepest condolences.

Very early one Sunday morning before the June primary election, I left the house with a purpose – I was going to place our CALA yard signs among the hundreds of candidate signs lining the streets of a busy thoroughfare between Newport Beach and Irvine. We had less than a dozen signs to place in between the many signs for candidates running for assembly, judge and U.S. Senate, but I thought it was worth getting the word out that “California Needs More Jobs, Not More Lawsuits.” Now, here we are, nearly seven weeks after the June primary and only one yard sign is still standing - CALA's. Even the city workers who mow the lawn take great care in not moving our sign and mow around it to keep it intact. Could it be a sign of the times? The economy is down. Businesses are closing and people are losing their jobs. The small yard sign screams a message loud and clear – “California Needs More Jobs, Not More Lawsuits.” I continue to receive e-mails and calls from people who see our sign and agree. Have you seen our sign?

I am certainly not a role model for eating habits. Believe me I will jump at an Entenmann's donut any day of the week over a salad, but you will not see me sue Entenmann's. I guess I should have seen it coming. First the County Board of Supervisors in Santa Clara banned McDonald's from putting toys in its Happy Meals. Now comes the Center for Science in the Public Interest sending a letter of intent to sue McDonald's if the toys are not removed from all Happy Meals.

Stephen Gardner, the center's litigation director said "McDonald's is the stranger in the playground handing candy out to children." Are you kidding me? He also went on to say that McDonald's is undercutting parental authority. Really? So these fast food giants are just coming along and jamming Happy Meals down these kids throats behind their parents' backs.

Look there is a serious obesity problem in this nation, but do not blame the fast food companies. All of us have lessons to learn in personal responsibility. Unfortunately, what’s being taught are not the right lessons. We’re getting taught that if you’re fat, blame the fast food restaurants that “forced” you to gobble calorie-rich burgers and fries, if you’re benched in a crucial game, blame your coach or school, if you fall in a supermarket, blame the store, and so on. Basically, we’re being told “it’s not your fault – sue them all.”

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHS), fast food may not even be the cause of most teen weight problems. As it turns out, the couch potato phenomenon doesn’t just apply to adults. Data from DHS shows only 20 percent of high school students are engaged in moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day.

Reforms will help, but the problems with our out-of-control legal system will not be resolved until we reform our way of thinking. We must teach our children – by word and deed – that if you don’t eat right or exercise it’s your fault and nobody elses. We must all change our way of thinking – stop blaming others and accept responsibility for our actions. That’s the most appropriate lesson in personal responsibility for all of us.

So let's try and focus the debate on personal responsibility and some daily exercise and not on suing. The only ones that will benefit from litigation are the trial lawyers.

Cross-posted at Fox & Hounds Daily.

Jan Norman, the Orange County Register's small business reporter, reminds us just how important the upcoming November election really is in her blog titled, "Is California Lawsuit Heaven or Hell?" where she discusses a new report by the Pacific Research Institute. The report, the U.S. Tort Liability Index, found that California has dropped eight spots since its last release in 2008, and ranks dead lasat in state tort rules to contain costs and reduce lawsuit abuse, such as class-action reforms, caps on awards and product-liability charges.

Sadly, the stats come as no surprise, as year after year our elected officials fail to pass bills that would bring much-needed fairness to our legal system. Before voting this election cycle, ask your candidates where they stand on civil justice reform. Tell them that stopping lawsuit abuse needs to be a top priority. Take time to ask if our lawmakers will be bold enough to pass reforms that protect all Californians from abusive lawsuits. The report found that just one tort reform would create 141,000 jobs. With more than 161,000 unempoyed in Orange County alone, it is critical that we pass laws that will create more jobs, not more lawsuits. If California legislators won’t reform the civil justice system, then it’s time for voters to change the current legislators for those who will!