I Trust Juries―and Americans Like You

摘要

Like most people, I never ex-pected to be involved in a lawsuit. But then, in May 2002, two doctors switched the pathology slides of my breast biopsy with another woman's. Following my double mastectomy, the surgeon told me I didn't have cancer. What a relief! The operation had been a success. "You don't understand," the surgeon explained. "You never had cancer." And so I became involved in a lawsuit against the hospital and the people who wouldn't even own up to their error. According to "Lawsuit Hell," NEWSWEEK'S cover story on our civil-justice system last week, I guess that makes me just another freeloader looking to hit the jackpot. I'd take offense―being maimed by someone else's negligence isn't winning the lottery―except that I'm used to these articles. They all use the same words to discredit the system and people who get some justice from it.