[bensabath]

Really, your absolute lack of faith in the American court system is showing.
Have you got a better plan for determining what happened than a trial?

I worked for a PI attorney for a couple years - I have seen first hand the kinds of crap that can be played up for a jury and result in a verdict.

I've also seen how little of the money actually makes it to the plaintiff.

A big step to improving things would be to forbid schmaltzy emotional appeals - like Edwards' famous "channeling" episode.

Another good step would be to cap attorney's fees at some percentage of the trial costs. That way, some of the money that gets awarded to the plaintiff for legitimate pain and suffering actually makes it to the plaintiff.

What should happen to a doctor who leaves a patient in the delivery room unattended for an hour to grab a sandwich, causing the baby to suffer irreparable brain damage?

If that in fact happened, and he was the proximate cause, he should have been charged criminally and had his license revoked.

The problem is not the legitimate gross malpractice suits. It's the junk science stuff that gets millions. And the sleaze like Edwards that pretend to feel the "spirit" of a (not dead) child "speaking through me" to play to jury sympathies.

Matt