Group targets ads for personal injury lawyers

05:55 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 4, 2005

By OLGA CAMPOS / KVUE News

There are new efforts to limit co-called frivolous lawsuits by targeting television commercials that feature personal injury attorneys.

KVUE News

It's estimated Texas lawyers spent more than $30 million last year on T.V. advertisements. Many of the commercials are for personal injury attorneys seeking clients to take on companies which have caused injury or death. Print ads often solicit the same.

But now a survey by Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse claims such ads influence important personal decisions.

"I think the most disturbing point is the number of people who are making their decisions about their health care and about their medications based on an ad they're seeing on television, instead of going and talking to a doctor and making a decision in conjunction with their doctor," said Kirsten Voinis, Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.

The group is calling on the federal government to regulate advertising by attorneys. Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse claims the ads promote frivolous lawsuits especially when doctors and pharmaceutical companies are targeted.

Recently a Texas widow was awarded $253 million after a jury concluded Merck, makers of Vioxx, was responsible for her husband's death.

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse says such jury awards drive up the cost of healthcare and inhibit medical research.

"Not only does that take medications off the market, but it also puts a chilling affect on medical research and innovation, which could stop research on drugs we're all waiting for that would solve cancer, cure aids and a lot of other diseases," said Voinis.

Rather than choosing a lawyer based on a T.V. ad, the group is publishing a guide for legal consumers. The goal is to help the public make educated decisions about important legal matters.

Attorney ads are required to meet guidelines set by the State Bar of Texas.

In response, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association says medical malpractice claims add up to less than one percent of total health care costs:

"The problem in health care is not that consumers get too much information, but that they get it only after someone has been needlessly killed or injured."