John Stossel explained in _Give Me A Break_ that the US once had a variety of pharmaceutical labs researching different cures and conducting trials. But US courts allowed a frenzy of frivolous lawsuits to extract astronomical payouts on behalf of former trial participants, even demanding payouts from the companies that stocked the supply and janitorial cabinets of research companies. One by one, we bankrupted our competitive machines of innovation until the few remaining pharmaceutical companies had grown large enough to defend themselves against injury claims. Big Pharma was created by lawyers.

> often providing services that are unnecessary

Thank a lawyer. "Patient with symptom X would have survived if only the doctor had tested him for Y". Now every patient with symptom X is issued a $5600 scan for Y -- not because of medical science, but because of liability. Every time a courts awards 10 figure settlement because "that insurance company is good for it," all of society pays for it.

Our country is run by lawyers for the benefit of laywers. This explains much of what we see around us.