Docs, Lawyers Debate Malpractice Crisis
Business Courier
February 7, 2003

The best prescription for the medical malpractice crisis might end up being a cocktail that mixes tort reform and insurance industry regulation.

Tri-State physicians and attorneys debated the issue recently at a forum sponsored by Legacy, a group of young professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life in the region.

The physicians said they want to limit jury awards to $250,000 to end the "jackpot justice" they perceive coming out of the court system.

The attorneys said insurance regulation, not tort reform, is the answer to lowering premiums.

"Increased premiums are forcing doctors to limit their hours or go out of practice," said Dr. Chris Bolling, a Northern Kentucky physician with Pediatric Associates.

Kentucky physicians face average premium increases of 78 percent, according to a survey conducted by the Kentucky Medical Association last spring.

Bolling cited the numbers of obstetricians leaving the state because of exhorbitant malpractice insurance rates.

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Well-known actuary Robert Hunter completed a study for Americans for Insurance Reform in October. It found that, since 1975, medical malpractice premiums have increased or decreased in direct relationship to the strength of the economy.

An analysis of the National Practitioner Data Bank by Public Citizen found that 5 percent of U.S. physicians are responsible for half of all malpractice and slightly more than half of all damages paid.

That study also found that of the 2,100 doctors who paid four malpractice claims, only 15 percent were disciplined.

For a copy of the complete article, contact AIR.