NYT: A Push in States To Curb Malpractice Costs

[Maven]

As state legislative sessions open across the country this week, Republican governors and lawmakers in many states are mounting major campaigns to control medical malpractice insurance premiums by limiting civil litigation.

In Georgia, Missouri, Washington and more than a dozen other states, Republican legislators have made malpractice premiums a priority this year, groups that track such legislation said. In Kentucky, Maryland and Mississippi, Republican governors have already waded into the fray.

The impending battles over malpractice costs have in some states been wrapped in the broader cloak of "tort reform," intended to restrict the civil liability of many types of businesses. They also come at a time when President Bush has pledged to push for federal restrictions on medical malpractice lawsuits. more...

---

I have personal experience with this, and yes, in some states, doctors are actually refusing to perform certain services for fear of being sued. HOWEVER, these problems are largely solveable by instituting review boards to weed out frivolous claims. I'm more interested in the bolded text above--more of the same "piggybacking" strategy. They don't give a shit about doctors--this is about insurance companies' profits and, more insidiously, about using this latest "crisis" to limit the ability of anyone to sue any big corporation for anything.

[Voltaire99]

1. Good comment, Harvey

Yes, this is about restoring the proper order of things--pre-modern scales of economy, Wall Street Morality. It's always cheaper to have the proles die and settle for flowers than allow them to hold our dear estemeed elite liable for minor, er, mistakes.

This Republican "reform" is so wicked, base, and criminal that I expect the Democratic Leadership Council to be trumpeting it from the rooftops any day now....

[Florida_Geek]

2. Funny thing is happening in Florida

Capped malpractice --- rates when up

So voters got into the act. In the 2004 elections they approved two major cont. amendments.

1) Three Strike and you are out against Doctors that lose malpractice claims.

2) Open records on hospitals records of malpractice suits.

Since then One local St. Pete Hospital has terminated the services of like 3 HEART doctors and and are trying to keep the reason from the St. Pete Times.

[Sgent]

3. Umm....

Stupid, idiotic flordia law...

The median neurosurgeon, OB/GYN, etc. is sued about 15 times during their career, and loses/settles about half of them. Note I said median and not average.

Somehow these suits are related to the "breaching the community standard of care", but if every doctor in the community is getting sued, its the courts not enforcing the rules, or defendents scared of a jury trial due to the injury suffered by the patient.

[Florida_Geek]

4. The insurance companies are mainly to blame

they admit caps do not stop increases.

Add to that bad doctors that up till now have not been held accountable.

But up till now the Repug answer was ONLY to stop ppl from suiting.

[drscm]

5. The latest stat heard on NPR: 5% of doctors responsible for 55% of claims.

It would be worthwhile to investigate why these 5% have such a high number of claims. Is it because of their particular specialty, a particualarly litigenous region or because of incompetence on their part.

Of course, repugs will also use medical malpractice as a means to protect their corporate masters interests across the board in every unrelated matter.

[annabanana]

6. I'm SO glad the media is exposing the rotten 5%

ha......

[Maven]

7. Interesting

Lemme see if I can find anything on their website about this.

[Sgent]

8. 5% of the doctors....

That's about the number of OB/GYNs, Neurosurgeons, and pediatric surgeons.

The number sounds about right.

[HuckleB]

9. I was thinking along those lines.

The stat is meaningless unless it's considered in context of what specialties get sued most often, and why.