Is tort reform constitutional?
Many Republicans have argued that trial lawyers have filed frivolous lawsuits against health care providers and that has caused their insurance carriers to seek higher premiums on the providers malpractice policies, and those costs have been passed on to patients. In fact, all states have laws against frivolous lawsuits, and lawyers are frequently forced to pay the legal fees of those whom they have wrongfully sued. Moreover, well over 95% of all health care malpractice litigation takes place in state courts. The states run their own court systems. Congress is powerless to tell the states what awards juries should give or who can be sued in the state court systems. Thus, in my opinion, so-called federal tort reform would be unconstitutional as a congressional invasion of the powers retained by the states when they joined the Union. 4. Is there anything in the Constitution that empowers Congress to regulate health care or get between patients and their physicians or empower bureaucrats
