Scott Whitaker, the President and CEO of AdvaMed, a medical trade association, has voiced concerns about the impact of misleading advertisements on patients' health. In a commentary piece, he stated that trial attorneys are luring plaintiffs to join lawsuits through deceptive ads. Reports have found that this excessive litigation is imposing financial burdens on consumers, particularly affecting low-income Californians.
"As a viewer, you're one of the millions of people being subjected to a well-financed effort to create unscrupulous lawsuits using misleading ads," said Whitaker. "These ads have led to patient confusion, attacks on medical innovators, and barriers placed between patients and their doctors. The ads are part of an elaborate business model: a firm provides financing for legal action in exchange for a share of the damages or settlement amount. However, to generate such cases, the funders and plaintiff lawyers use misleading advertisements to recruit potential plaintiffs and consolidate them into multi-court district civil litigation."
Whitaker further explained in his commentary that third-party financiers provide the necessary funding for attorneys to initiate litigation. These financiers then receive a portion of the settlement or damages. Attorneys and funders launch advertising campaigns to attract plaintiffs and rely on the large number of claimants to suggest their claims have merit. This "tactic" often forces many defendants to settle, with the attorneys and third-party funders profiting from these settlements. Whitaker expressed concern that patients could be misled by legal advertisements targeting the medical industry due to their nature.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) echoed Whitaker's concerns about consumer costs. The ILR reported that mass tort litigation is indeed costing consumers money. It singled out California as one state where consumers bear one of the highest costs resulting from excessive lawsuits—over $4,500 per household. The ILR’s report also described the tort system as an "inefficient" method of providing relief to claimants, revealing that nearly half of every dollar paid in the tort system was spent on expenses such as litigation costs instead of going directly to claimants.
According to CalMatters, low-income Californians are feeling these effects acutely due to rising costs in the state. Residents are grappling with severe inflation, high housing costs, and expensive basic necessities. Last year alone saw more than half of California households earning less than $50,000 struggling to afford necessities like food and housing. Nonwhite households were similarly finding it difficult to cover basic expenses.
Before joining AdvaMed, Whitaker held the position of Chief Operating Officer at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, as per AdvaMed’s website. He also previously served as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. At AdvaMed, Whitaker collaborates with stakeholders to promote medical technology innovation.