Fear-Mongering Torts and the Exaggerated Death of Diving‪.‬

I. INTRODUCTION The tort system is causing havoc, we are told. Skyrocketing malpractice premiums are driving physicians from practice. (1) Litigation is chilling the development of desperately needed new medicines, (2) enriching people who stupidly spill hot coffee on themselves, (3) and imposing a "tort tax" on consumer products that is putting American companies at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy. (4) And the tort system is even squeezing the fun out of everyday life. As Judge Edith H. Jones put it at this symposium's conference at Vanderbilt University: "I would say, I think there have been dramatic changes in behavior as a result of lawsuits. We can't get hot coffee at McDonald's anymore. On playgrounds they don't have seesaws, they don't have sliding boards, they don't have real high swings that we used to enjoy. We don't have diving boards on swimming pools; a lot of fun is taken out of life." (5)