the financial incentives of partisanship over science in our litigious society.
Not quite sure I know what you mean by partisanship. If you mean intellectual prostitution, you're absolutely right. I can tell you I get more ads, email solicitations, etc. than you can imagine from "experts" offering to testify for me on virtually anything I want. I can find an expert somewhere to put forward virtually any position I might want to prove.
The courts are finally cracking down a wee, wee bit on "junk science," but there's still WAY too much of it out there.
BUT, and it's a huge but, you have to look beyond the lawyers and judges and take a look in the mirror. These huge verdicts are almost always given by juries. It's the people who are accepting this junk science, who are giving out the awards. Granted, the lawyers and judges provide the forum which makes it possible. But if a jury hadn't been willing to give $8 million or whatever for spilling a cup of hot coffee in your lap, it wouldn't have happened. The lawyers aren't allowed in the jury room.
There's a tremendous lack of faith in our corporate culture. Almost every citizen has been screwed, or feels they have been screwed, but some company somewhere. So when they get their opportunity to strike back, they do.
Rein in the juries and you rein in the lawyers. Otherwise, the sky's the limit. And, of course, the cost is paid by all of us in higher prices and higher insurance bills.
Ah, how did I let you get me started on this? |
