I posted last week that limitations on damages in medical malpractice cases might be just the opening salvo in a continuing effort to limit all types of negligence cases. Big Business is making no secret that that goal is exactly where they're heading. The relevant quote:

Those three powerhouses [DaimlerChrysler Corp., The Home Depot Inc. and Georgia-Pacific Corp.] and others, including BellSouth Corp. (NYSE: BLS), are participating because they also worry about potential lawsuits filed against them by customers — people who are unhappy with their products, have slipped and fallen on company property or have any other reason to sue, officials at the Georgia Chamber said.

the piece even throws in a passing reference to the Liebeck v. McDonald's coffee case. This damaging admission ties in with what I have been saying lately, and it sets the parameters of the debate. This stakes here are for nothing less than the invidual's overall right to sue any business and recover damages. The "tort reformers" will not stop if they are successful with malpractice; they will just move on to the next so-called problem area, until the average joe/jill will not be able to (1) find a lawyer to take his/her case, and (2) won't have much of a cause of action anyway. The stakes are very high, indeed.

The greed factor belongs to Big Insurance and Big Business in this debate. The current legislative and propaganda campaigns are but the latest in their ongoing fight to increase their profits at the cost of the victims of negligence.

UPDATE: Poultry Giants Want Sympathy Too.