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OK, a few numbers, dug up by a simple "litigation cost in american health care" google query. here you find:

medical-malpractice liability alone constitutes over 10 percent of the entire U.S. tort tax, which by 2003 represented over $3,300 for a family of four. And:

Wyethâ(TM)s massive reserve for Fen-Phen litigation is $21 billion,[6] and Merckâ(TM)s exposure to Vioxx lawsuits may total as much as $50 billion.[7] Such figures are astronomical in comparison with these companiesâ(TM) individual budgets, representing nine to twelve times each companyâ(TM)s annual research and development costs.[8] In fact, since each drug was only widely used for about four years, the approximate annualized liability cost of these two drugs comes to almost $18 billionâ"equivalent to 10 percent of the annual revenues for the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.[9] Massive numbers. Just massive.

"The Bush administration largely gets it backwards, they say health care is expensive because of lawsuits. I say lawsuits are expensive because of our health care system." William M. Sage, Columbia University law professor and physician. Mr. Sage might be a law professor and physician, but he is obviosly not an economist. You have to be pretty foolish to believe that making doctors pay millions in insurance premiums, and driving thousands out of the medical field for fear of lawsuits, wouldn't make health care more expensive.

Name dropping Bush is a nice touch too... usually when people can't make a coherent arguement, they throw the word "Bush" into their sound bite, because Bush is extremly unpopular and that is enough to make people lose their ability for critical thought. I mean, why didn't he mention Hitler while he was at it? Or Satan?

Did anyone notice that insurance companies donate literally billions of dollars to campaigns over the past decades to get this passed? The Trial Lawyers of America, the political action group that represents ambulance chasers, gives 50% more campaign donations that the rest of the insurance, medical, and pharmicutical industry combined. They are the single largest donator to political campaigns in America. However many "billions" you think that the insurance companies spend, multiply that by several times and that is what the Trial Lawyers spend! http://www.triallawyersinc.com/healthcare/hc07.htm l

Is anyone ready for legal reform yet?

I don't think anyone has any respect for these class-action lawsuits. Why do they still go on?

Money is why we won't get reform as long as Democrats have the power to prevent it.

Is anyone ready for legal reform yet?

A loser pays rule would make these kind of lawsuits very risky for the plaintiff. "I'll sue" would cease to be a meaningful threat.

Money is why we won't get reform as long as Democrats have the power to prevent it.