Medical Malpractice News

Medical Liability Is A Problem We Can Fix

Washington – A medical liability system run amok has spread like cancer through the American health care system, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) told the U.S. Senate today, and if Congress doesn’t act quickly, medical costs will continue to rise, forcing doctors – especially OB/GYNs – to leave practice.

To address these issues, Hatch voted for the Medical Care Access and Protection Act of 2006 (S. 22) and the Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Access to Care Act (S. 23). Democrats blocked the bills from moving forward by votes of 48-42 and 49-44 respectively.

“These bills address the medical liability and litigation crisis in our country,” Hatch said on the Senate floor. “This crisis is limiting or denying access to vital medical care and needlessly increasing the cost of care for every American.”

S. 22 and S. 23 aim to decrease the number of malpractice lawsuits and the payment amounts awarded in successful claims. Specific reforms include creating a federal statute of limitations, limiting exorbitant attorney fees, and capping the amount juries may award in damages. These proposed reforms are comparable to California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975. From 1976 to 2000, liability premiums increased nationwide by 505 percent, while California’s increased only 167 percent.

“As a result, doctors are not leaving their practices in California the way they are elsewhere in the nation,” Hatch said.

OB/GYNs are particularly vulnerable to unjustified lawsuits, because of the tendency to blame physicians for brain-injured infants, although research has proven that physician error accounts for less than 4 percent of neurologically impaired babies, Hatch said. Three out of four OB/GYNs report patients sue them at least once in their career, which is decimating the ranks of doctors who deliver babies. The Utah Medical Association found that 50.5 of Utah family practitioners have already given up obstetric services, and an additional 16.2 percent plan to stop these services in the next 10 years. Moreover, the Utah Chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reported the liability crisis has forced 53 percent of Utah OB/GYNs to change their practices: they retiring, relocating, or dropping obstetrics.

Additional liability statistics Hatch shared with the Senate include:

• Only 17 percent of liability claims filed actually involve a negligent injury.
• From 2004 to 2006, medical liability insurance has increased 145 percent nationwide.
• The Utah Hospital Association’s malpractice premiums increased 300 percent in the last 10 years.

“Skyrocketing medical litigation costs directly increase health care costs for all Americans, while decreasing access to quality care and corroding the doctor-patient relationship,” Hatch said. “This is a crisis that we can fix.”

Please contact us if anyone you know has suffered from debilitating injuries due to medical malpractice in Jacksonville.

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