Physician, Heal Thy Regulatory System
Albany Times-Union
March 24, 2003


Physicians from across the state have now had their day in Albany to plead with legislators for systemic change in our malpractice tort laws.

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The physicians point to jurors, lawmakers and the tort bar as having laid waste to their ranks. Setting aside for a moment their misleading arguments, short-circuiting our civil justice system could never be the solution to any problem.

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A study of 17 states indicates that far from an explosion of medical malpractice claims clogging state courts, claims against health care providers were stable from 1997 through 2001, with only a 5 percent increase in filings during the period.

A National Center for State Courts study found that in Florida, a supposed "crisis" state, medical malpractice claims rose just 3.7 percent from 1997 to 2000. And, according to government data, nationwide only 5 percent of medical malpractice payouts in 2001 exceeded $1 million.

To further expose the lawsuit crisis myth, a report issued by Americans for Insurance Reform shows that insurance rates for physicians skyrocketed twice before -- in the mid-1970s and again in the mid-1980s. Each so-called occurred during years of a weakened economy and plummeting interest rates. Sound familiar?

A study issued by a consortium of consumer organizations, including the New York Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Medical Consumers, concludes that insurance carriers have created a crisis where none exists. The study also found no evidence of a dramatic change in the trend of litigation against New York physicians.

For a copy of the complete article, contact AIR.