June 16, 2006

A letter to the editor that ran in the Columbus Dispatch Jun. 4:

I read with interest Philip J. Fulton’s May 25 letter. I also read the article he refers to in the May 11 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine. Fulton, president of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, claims this article "establishes that almost every medical-malpractice suit filed in the United States has a meritorious basis."

The first sentence in the conclusion of the abstract is "Claims that lack evidence of error are not uncommon, but most are denied compensation." The study shows 40 percent of filed claims lacked evidence of error or injury.

I did not go to law school, but I do not see how Fulton can draw the conclusion that 60 percent equals "almost every."

Where I went to school, 60 percent equaled a D-minus.

CLARK J. LESLIE

New Concord

(via Donna Rovito)