License to Kill

“Tort reform” is all fine a good but the debate as posed by conservatives assumes that only plaintiffs and their lawyers are capable of greed. Unfortunately greed is also possible in the companies they are trying to protect.

The basic problem with limiting rewards is it places a fixed price on human life and suffering. This gives corporations in effect a “License to kill” in that they have a clear picture of the maximum retribution they stand to receive for issuing deadly fatal products. Not only does limiting potential damages reduce a company’s incentive to recall and remedy known faulty products it encourages cutting corners in respect to the safety of new products. For instance if a $5 part will statistically prevent 1,000 deaths corporations now can look at a known maximum legal cost for 1,000 potential deaths. If the cost of the $5 part comes close to or exceeds the legal cost a company motivated more by profit than safety will leave out the part. The company know that most likely 1,000 people will die due to this decision, but due to fixed damage limits the company has a license to kills these individuals in pursuit of greater profits.