Studies and Articles
Daschle to Join Obama’s Cabinet Signaling his commitment to take on the thorny challenge of refashioning American healthcare, President-elect Barack Obama has asked former Sen. Tom Daschle to be secretary of Health and Human Services, placing a political ally with vast Capitol Hill experience at the forefront of the debate.
Senators Begin Setting Agenda on Health Care As word began to spread that the former Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, had been tapped as the next secretary of health and human services, a powerful corps of senators gathered in Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s new office just outside the Senate chamber to begin planning for a major push on national health care reform in the next Congress.
Illinois Justices Hear Pros and Cons of Malpractice Limits Illinois' medical establishment, scrambling to save a wounded state law that limits malpractice awards, warned the state Supreme Court on Thursday of driving out doctors and causing a new downstate medical shortage.
Good Medicine for Illinois The future health and well-being of Illinoisans is now in the hands of the Illinois Supreme Court. The justices heard arguments last week in a legal case that attempts to overturn the state's medical malpractice law. Their ruling will help decide whether you will have access to a full range of medical care in the future.
Doctors’group: Unnecessary medical tests drive up health care costs in the state by at least $1.4 billion a year Doctors in the state order at least $1.4 billion worth of diagnostic tests and hospital stays each year out of fear of litigation instead of a patient’s actual need, according to a report from the Massachusetts Medical Society.
More Doctors Leaving Hawaii Hawaii's shortage of specialty doctors is growing, especially affecting the neighbor islands. Three Big Island orthopedic surgeons are joining the long list of doctors leaving Hawaii, citing low insurance reimbursements and failed medical tort reform efforts that keep the cost of doing business to high.
Bill Would Set Cap for Medical Malpractice Lawsuits An at least four-year-old battle to get a wider availability of local doctors on Guam was revisited yesterday. Members of the medical community have said one of the reasons the island can't get more practicing physicians is the lack of medical malpractice insurance in Guam.
Pennsylvania is Driving its Doctors Away Gov. Ed Rendell is holding the legislature, physicians and patients of Pennsylvania hostage. His ransom is a universal health-care program that he wants to create and force doctors to pay for.
Health Care Reform Goes Beyond Cost, Coverage Dr. James Bean penned an incisive op-ed published in several Florida newspapers on the true cost of an abusive system: the exodus of doctors from the profession and declining access to vital medical care for patients.
No Place To Be Born The political paralysis of New York State’s governing elites is taking its toll on patients and their health care. A one year freeze on medical liability insurance rates, designed to give the state time to come up with a long-term solution to the crisis, seems to have only given politicians an excuse of inaction.
Supporters of Texas Malpractice Damages are Taking it to Court Supporters of medical liability reform are finding themselves in the role of plaintiffs, urging the Texas Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the state’s landmark reforms.
Texas Medical Liability Trust says it will cut rates again in 2009 Texas Liability Trust, the state’s largest liability insurance provider, announced it would cut rates beginning in 2009 – the seventh yearly cut since reforms were passed in 2003.
Lower Costs, More Care Dwight K. Bartlett, who worked in the Carter Administration from 1979 to 1981 and as Maryland insurance commissioner from 1993 to 1997, makes the compelling point that if either presidential candidate hopes to control health care costs and to cover the uninsured, he’ll have to reduce the pressures that lead to the widespread practice of defensive medicine.
McCain unveils economic and jobs plan in Colorado In July 2008, John McCain unveiled his economic and jobs plan, which included, among other things, putting an end to “endless, frivolous lawsuits” and the critical need for medical liability reform.
Med lawsuit abuse crisis still a crisis Dr. Elliot Menkowitz points out in an op-ed in the Philadelphia Business Journal that the proposed 4.4% cut in Pennsylvania insurance premiums “will have about the same impact as if gasoline dropped a dime per gallon.” OB-GYNs who saw their premiums skyrocket from an average of $37,556 in 2000 to $167,000 today, will still be paying $130,000 more than eight years ago.
It's time for a Chester County trauma center Pennsylvania patients are still at risk due to the patient access to care crisis. Currently, the wealthy suburb of Chester County is struggling to replace the trauma center closed down in 2002 because of the liability crisis.
MICHIGAN ON TRIAL: Litigation Industry Looks to Recapture the Great Lakes State This report by The Manhattan Institute looks at the successful legal reforms passed in Michigan since 1986 and the commitment by personal injury lawyers and its powerful lobbying and public-relations resources to rolling back laws that have helped curb lawsuit abuse in that state.
Case takes aim at cap on damages: Plaintiff’s lawyer sees ruling as ‘stepping-stone’ to appellate decision A Baltimore judge has rejected a constitutional challenge to the state’s longstanding cap on pain and suffering damages, setting the stage for a planned appeal.
State court overturns AZ law on expert witnesses An Arizona appellate court ruling says a state law on medical malpractice lawsuits is unconstitutional. At issue is a law that sets qualifications required for expert witnesses in medical malpractice cases.
How Tort Reform Affects Insurance Markets This study examines whether insurance prices reflect the uncertainty of the medical liability reform since they are subject to judicial challenge. The results indicate that as the estimated survival probability of tort reform increases, the premiums and volatility of losses in the insurance market decrease.
Adding Some Balance To The CAP’s “Balance”
This article looks at the approach taken by the Center for American Progress on the issue of caps on non-economic damages.
McCain Discusses Health Care During “Call to Action Tour” Town Hall Senator McCain gave a speech at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylvania outlining his health care reform plan. In it, he proposes protecting physicians who have adhered to clinical guidelines from “frivolous lawsuits.”
Gov. Blunt’s Lawsuit Reform Achieves Big Dividends Governor Blunt highlights success of 2005 lawsuit reform initiative citing a drop in total claims against Missouri physicians as well as claim settlement costs.
Judge Strikes Down Cap on Malpractice Awards A Fulton County judge has struck down the cap on monetary awards in a medical malpractice case, a decision that if upheld on appeal could undercut a major component of Georgia's tort reform laws.
Poll Florida Legal Climate Not Good Florida’s legal climate continues to be weakened by the attack on the state’s civil justice system by plaintiffs’ attorneys, according to two recent polls released by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.
President Bush Discusses Economy, Trade President Bush highlights the high cost of defensive medicine in a speech in Missouri.
Aon Study Finds Stability in Nationwide Liability Costs in the Long Term Health Care Sector A recent study found that medical liability costs for long term care beds dropped from an average of $7,190 in 1998 to $1,270 in 2007 in states that had passed medical liability reform.
Why Doctors Are Heading for Texas Over the past three years, some 7,000 M.D.s have flooded into Texas, many from Tennessee. Why? Two words: Tort reform.
Mississippi’s Tort Reform Triumph With 25% annual increases in malpractice premiums, many physicians simply couldn't survive if they stayed. The outflux left some counties without a single obstetrician. In some cases, residents had to drive 100 miles to find a doctor.
Reasons Not To Become A Doctor The American Medical Association recognizes there are shortages in certain geographic areas and in certain specialties. Part of that is due to the aging population and a stagnant number of medical-school applicants. But there are other significant reasons. They include the increasing costs of medical malpractice coverage, higher practice costs, lower insurance reimbursement rates and insurance-company restrictions resulting in less autonomy over how patients are cared for.
A Tale of Two States More than 80 percent of the nation is either in or approaching a health care delivery crisis. Across the country, many physicians and health care practitioners no longer can afford to stay in practice due to escalating professional liability premiums. As a result, patients in states such as Pennsylvania are dying.
Malpractice Insurance Help Ends Today for Pennsylvania Doctors Pennsylvania doctors can expect to pay higher malpractice insurance bills soon. House Democrats yesterday turned back attempts by Republican members to win approval for a one-year extension of financial assistance for doctors to defray malpractice insurance costs, known as the MCare abatement program. But even if GOP members had succeeded, Gov. Ed Rendell likely would not have signed the bill.
Docs feeling better In 2003, Ohio doctors were looking for someone to cure what ailed them. In the face of increasing rates for medical malpractice liability insurance, many physicians lobbied state government for legislation that would help decrease the number of what they deemed frivolous malpractice lawsuits. The situation was so dire, a number of those physicians felt the alternative was to retire or practice medicine in another state.
Malpractice Insurer to Give Back $11 Million to Illinois Doctors Illinois doctors will get a refund collectively worth $11 million from the state's largest medical malpractice insurer. The Illinois State Medical Insurance Exchange says claims are down. That means doctors will get credits when they renew their policies. Individual doctors will get around $500 to $1,000.
US Tort Liability Index: 2008 Report This Report measures the best and worst tort systems in America. The Pacific Research Institute developed the Index as a tool for governors and state legislators to assess their tort systems and to enact laws that will improve the business climate of their states.
Wisconsin's Judicial Revolution On Tuesday, for the first time in over four decades, Wisconsin voters turned out an incumbent justice of their state supreme court. The election showed that, given a clear choice, voters usually prefer a judicial conservative to one with an activist bent.
Colorado Delays Action on Bill to Raise Limits for Malpractice Suits A Colorado House committee delayed action on a bill that would increase the amount juries can award in some medical malpractice suits after doctors warned it could force them to stop practicing and make health care more expensive.
Doctors Rally for a Remedy: Group Warns of Crisis in Malpractice Insurance, Applauds Plan for Reform Showing open hostility toward [NY] Assembly Democrats, about 1,500 doctors paraded through the Capitol on Tuesday complaining about a "crisis" of unaffordable malpractice insurance brought on largely because of the potential for uncapped pain-and-suffering awards.
MDs Carry Malpractice Concerns To Albany Some 250 physicians from John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, St. Charles Hospital and other healthcare facilities in Suffolk County [NY] descended on state government offices last week to press their case for reforms that would rein in alarming increases in malpractice insurance costs, which they say are driving doctors out of business in the region.
Constitutionality of the Statutory Cap on Noneconomic Damages Upheld by Oregon Supreme Court On February 22, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the statutory cap on noneconomic damages (ORS 31.710) as applied to claims for wrongful death.
Wife of ex-Cowboys RB Ron Springs Sues Doctors Seated next to Mr. Walls was Washington, D.C., attorney Robert Peck, who in the coming weeks plans to represent the Springs family and about a dozen other plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit seeking to have the $250,000 cap the Legislature has placed on pain-and-suffering awards declared unconstitutional. It would be the first federal challenge to the Texas cap, which voters approved as a state constitutional amendment in 2003.
Class action challenges Texas cap on medical malpractice damages Seeking to nullify the Medical Malpractice and Tort Reform Act of 2003, a class action suit filed in the Marshall court of the Eastern District of Texas argues that the state's limits on non-economic damages are unconstitutional.
Malpractice Awards May Push Out Physicians A Stamford [CT] jury's decision to award a record $38.5 million to the parents of a boy born with cerebral palsy has reignited debates over medical malpractice rates, insurance company tactics and the cause of cerebral palsy.
Bad medicine The Colorado Senate narrowly approved a bill that threatens the health of health care in Colorado. This bill is a darling of the trial lawyers who stand to gain more in contingency fees when they can sue for higher amounts.
Legal Fight Over Texas Lawsuit Awards Heats Up Doctors and hospitals are battling back against a slew of challenges by personal injury lawyers to the medical liability reforms enacted in 2003.
In Kansas, Caps Get a Second Opinion At a time when liability claims against hospitals in Kansas have reached an eight-year low due to the intensity of patient safety efforts, a personal injury lawyer filed a case challenging the state’s medical liability reform measures.
Hawaii Medical Liability Reform Bills Die Again Hawaii’s Senate Health Committee Chairman David Ige killed medical liability reform bills without allowing a committee vote.
Ohio Editorial: Good Medicine Medical liability reforms enacted in Ohio in 2003 are the reason the number of lawsuits filed has dropped by 20%. In addition, medical liability insurance costs, which were skyrocketing before reform, are now leveling off.
Florida State University College of Medicine Preliminary Results from Statewide Physician Survey This study found that the state of Florida has 16,000 fewer doctors practicing than previously thought and that 13% of Florida’s doctors plan to leave medicine or significantly reduce their practice in the next five years. Furthermore, the average age of a Florida physician is 51 and 25% are older than 60.
John McCain on Health Care On October 11, 2007, Republican presidential candidate John McCain articulated his plans for reforming America's health care system at a Rotary lunch in Des Moines, Iowa.
More Doctors in Texas After Malpractice Caps In Texas, it can be a long wait for a doctor: up to six months. That is not for an appointment. That is the time it can take the Texas Medical Board to process applications to practice.
Kentucky Institute of Medicine Physician Workforce Study The physician and medical student members of the Kentucky Medical Association applaud and express deep concern about the Kentucky Institute of Medicine's Physician Workforce Study. It confirms what the Association and Kentucky patients have known for years…the state doesn't have enough doctors.
Independent Physician Workforce Study Confirms Kentuckians Face Access to Care Crisis Access to healthcare services is vital to the health of all Kentuckians and the economic well-being of the Commonwealth. An adequate number of physicians, including an appropriate distribution of specialists by discipline and geography, is critical to ensuring that care is available.
At 2-year anniversary, Illinois' malpractice law nears first court challenge The second anniversary of Illinois' landmark medical malpractice legislation passed quietly last month. But the law is now facing a fierce challenge from the trial lawyer bar.
Malpractice Liability Costs And The Practice of Medicine In The Medicare Program Recent increases in physician malpractice premiums and rapid growth in the number and size of awards to plaintiffs have raised widespread concerns about the medical malpractice liability system.
Staffing shortages may signal ER woes A shortage of on-call orthopaedic surgeons has forced two of Delaware's four downstate hospitals to downgrade their status in the statewide trauma system.
Protecting Your Access To Emergency Medical Care Emergency rooms have been forced to close down or turn away critically injured patients, and increasing numbers of doctors are having to cut back on "high-risk" lifesaving treatments because of the escalating number and cost of medical liability lawsuits.
Tort Reform Ushers in New Era in Medical Malpractice Coverage With the approach of the second anniversary of medical tort reform later this month, Medicus Insurance Company today officially launched its professional medical liability insurance for Illinois physicians.
Board Votes to Privatize Medical Malpractice Plan Five years ago the "medical malpractice availability plan" was created by the state legislature to keep physicians from leaving Mississippi. It offered doctors malpractice insurance they desperately needed to practice medicine. Now through tort reform, the plan can be sold to a private company.
Premiums Skyrocket in ‘Broken' Malpractice System New York hospitals will pay $1.3 billion in medical malpractice premiums in 2007, a figure that represents a 175% increase since 2000, according to a new analysis by the hospitals trade association. Following the State Insurance Department's 14% hike in medical malpractice insurance rates for doctors that took effect July 1, hospital officials said their burden is likely to be felt even more acutely.
New York Doctors Frustrated Over Malpractice Insurance Hike On July 4, 2007, New York State approved a 14 percent increase in the price of medical malpractice insurance -- a step the state's government admits is aimed at temporarily fixing a broken system. According to the state insurance superintendent, Eric Dinallo, "After years of failing to confront the fundamental problems…we have inherited the worst of both worlds -- physicians who cannot afford to practice medicine, and insurers whose financial condition is rapidly eroding."
Caps On Medical Malpractice Damages Cut Doctors' Insurance Costs According to a new review from two Alabama universities, reasonable limits on non-economic damages mean lower insurance premiums for doctors.
Will there be a doctor in the house? In a nuanced attempt to address a pending 'crisis' brought by a loss of doctors in Pennsylvania, State Representative Josh Shapiro introduced legislation that would allow the state to repay $100,000 of a new doctor’s student loans if they stay.
In reel time: Texans fishing for Oklahoma cases Now that Texas has passed dramatically successful medical liability reforms, personal injury attorneys are looking for work in Oklahoma. And when personal injury attorneys solicit the business of other law firms, they talk strictly about money. Clients are nameless, faceless creatures to the trial bar unless in front of a jury or issuing anti-reform jeremiads.
Comment: In fighting lawsuit abuse, Texas scores Every year, eager footballers from Texas and Oklahoma meet on the gridiron to battle it out in the Red River Rivalry. Just as the Sooners lost last year, the Oklahoma governor seriously dropped the ball in a fight that is not fun and games — the fight against lawsuit abuse.
Medical liability is threatening Arizona's health care It was above 100 degrees in most of Arizona this week, but The Arizona Republic carried two articles on Thursday that document the tip of a dangerous iceberg that the medical community has been warning about for years--and it continues to bear down on our health care system.
"Philadelphia's Maternity Ward Crunch." CBS News anchor Katie Couric shone a national spotlight on the escalating medical liability crisis in Philadelphia and its impact on patient access to care. Reporting on the closing of the fourteenth maternity ward in the Philadelphia area, Couric noted that the city's struggles are part of a nationwide crisis that increasingly threatens patients' ability to get the quality medical care they need when they need it.
"Demise of maternity wards is inducing...The Baby Scramble." Many Philadelphia hospitals lose money each time a doctor delivers a healthy baby because of medical lawsuit abuse. Consequently, over half of the maternity units in the City of Philadelphia have closed their doors, leaving some expectant mothers without access to the care they need and triggering what some doctors are calling a "looming public health crisis."
"House votes to expand malpractice damages." Legislation that passed the Illinois House would allow families to collect damages for grief, sorrow and mental suffering in wrongful death lawsuits. Dr. Rodney Osborn, president of the state medical society, says that the legislation is "clearly an attempt to inflate damages in medical liability awards and is a major step in the wrong direction." In order to become law, the bill must pass the State Senate and be signed by the governor.
"Ohio Court Hears Challenges to Injury Award Caps." The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to state legislation that places reasonable limits on non-economic damages. Despite Chief Justice Thomas Moyer's acknowledgment that the litigation climate would be "uncontrollable" without limits, there is reason for Ohio's doctors and patients to be concerned. Similar limits were struck down by the same court in 1999.
"Ohio Appeals Court Affirms Sanctions Against Malpractice Attorney For Filing Case With No Merit." The Ohio Court of Appeals found May 3 that a trial court did not err in imposing sanctions on personal injury lawyer, John E. Duda, who insisted on pursuing a medical malpractice claim after it became clear that the case lacked merit and even his clients decided that they no longer wanted to proceed.
“Update to Last Month's Physician Census Forecasts 65 Percent Shortage of On-Call Neurosurgeons by 2011.” An update to last month's first-ever Palm Beach County Physician Census reveals that the forecast for patients in need of a neurosurgeon in the next few years is even more dire than originally anticipated.
“Physician Shortages Forecast for Palm Beach County by 2011.” According to the recently released Palm Beach County Physician Census, many patients - who are already having difficulties scheduling appointments with certain types of medical specialists - will face even greater challenges locating a specialist in the coming years.
“Jackpot Justice: The True Cost of America’s Tort System.” In its March 2007 study, the Pacific Research Institute says that our out-of-control legal system imposes a devastating $865 billion cost on our society every year – 27 times more than we spend on homeland security. Medical liability costs are a major component of this drain on our economic system. The study finds that the practice of “defensive medicine” by litigation-fearing physicians increases American health care costs by $124 billion per year and adds 3.4 million Americans to the rolls of the uninsured.”
“2006 Update On U.S. Tort Cost Trends.” U.S. tort costs totaled $261 billion in 2005, which is approximately $880 per person and $4 less per person than in 2004, according to the 2006 Update on U.S. Tort Cost Trends from the Tillinghast business of Towers Perrin.
“Lawyers on the Howl .” In response to the ABA Journal article “Tort Reform Texas Style,” by Terry Carter, DMLR Chairman Dr. Stuart L. Weinstein calls attention to the ABA’s “unintentionally revealing” description of the way liability law used to be practiced in Texas, which he compares to “fishing with dynamite.”
“Texas: A Miracle in the Making.” In 2003, Texas voters passed Proposition 12, a constitutional amendment that locked in medical liability reform, including unlimited compensation for “economic” damages and reasonable limits on “non-economic damages.” In the three years since reform was passed, Texas has been transformed from a state in crisis to a model for national legislation that has been introduced in the U.S. Congress.
“Tort Reform Texas Style.” In the November issue of American Bar Association’s ABA Journal, author Terry Carter offers a different view on the efficacy of the Proposition 12 reforms in Texas. Since the constitutional amendment was adopted in 2003, tort reform has prevented personal injury lawyers from the medical lawsuit abuse that was harming patients’ access to care and plundering the Texas health care system and has the trial attorneys howling in protest.
“Trial Lawyers Change A Name, Not A Game.” In an attempt to revamp its tarnished reputation, the organization formerly known as the Association of Trial Laywers of America is now calling itself the American Association for Justice. The Atlanta Business Chronicle recently published an article in which Dan Pero takes a pointed look at the name change and calls it what it is: a calculated PR maneuver designed to hide their real motivation—profits.
“Hospital Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point.” A study by the Institute of Medicine detailing a nationwide crisis in Emergency Care, and recommending that Congress pass medical liability reform to alleviate the shortage of on-call physicians available to treat patients suffering a medical emergency.
Medical Malpractice Awards, Insurance, and Negligence: Which Are Related? Published by the Manhattan Institute, this study by George Mason economist Alex Tabarrok lays waste to trial lawyer contentions that greedy insurance companies are the cause of rising liability premiums and points a direct finger at meritless lawsuits.
The US Medical Liability System: Evidence for Legislative Reform. A study published in the Annals of Family Medicine that demonstrates the efficacy of hard caps in holding down insurance premiums. Click here to read a commentary on the study by DMLR Chairman Stuart L. Weinstein M.D.
Code Blue. A report from the Washington, D.C. Heritage Foundation making the case for state medical liability reform.
The National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine. The American College of Emergency Physicians grades support for emergency medicine, including the medical liability environment, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Medical Liability Reform - NOW! A compendium of facts compiled by the AMA supporting medical liability reform and debunking arguments against it.
Comments on Report by Jan Angoff. An independent study by the actuarial consulting firm Towers Perrin (Tillinghast) refuting a report by the Center for Justice and Democracy that claimed insurance industry profits, not lawsuit abuse, are responsible for rising doctors’ premiums.
Impact of Malpractice Reforms on the Supply of Physician Services, by Daniel P. Kessler, Ph.D., JD; William M. Sage, M.D., J.D., David J. Becker, BA. An economic analysis demonstrating that state medical liability reforms that cap non-economic damages increase the supply of physicians.
The Pew Charitable Trust Project on Medical Liability in Pennsylvania. Two recent Pew studies have found that the Pennsylvania’s liability crisis is driving residents in medical specialties to leave the state when their training is completed (here) and reducing the supply of specialist physicians to the point that it is damaging patient care (here).
National Quorum Poll. Conducted March 2005, this Harris Interactive poll finds 73% of Americans want their Senators and Representatives to support medical malpractice reform legislation, with only 19% opposed.
Profitability in Medical Professional Liability Insurance. A March, 2005 report by two academic experts on insurance examines the methodological flaws of the Angoff study and finds no evidence that medical liability insurance is overpriced.
American Hospital Association. A 2005 survey of hospital leaders finds that the medical liability crisis has had a profoundly negative impact on their hospital’s ability to provide services.
Effective Legal Reform and the Malpractice Insurance Crisis, by Richard E. Anderson, M.D., CEO of The Doctors Company. A well-documented case study of the medical liability crisis and the efficacy of California’s MICRA reforms in stemming the crisis in that state, originally printed in the Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics, V:1 (2005).
Trial Lawyers Inc. Health Care. This report from the Manhattan Institute shines a spotlight the lucrative “business” of lawsuit abuse and describes how trial attorneys are “attacking all levels of the health-care distribution chain,” from doctors to drug makers, nursing homes and health-care providers that minister to our nations most vulnerable citizens.
ACOG's 2004 Survey. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists survey identifies 23 “Red Alert” States and finds one out of seven ACOG Fellows has stopped practicing obstetrics because of the medical liability crisis.
California's MICRA Reforms. A 2003 study of California’s medical liability reforms finding that increasing the cap on non-economic damages would increase the cost of, and reduce access to, health care. For a summary of the findings, click here.
The Impact of State Laws Limiting Malpractice Awards on the Geographic Distribution of Physicians. A July, 2003 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determines that states with caps on non-economic damages have increased their supply of physicians per capita faster than those without caps.
Liability for Medical Malpractice: Issues and Evidence. A May, 2003 report by the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress concluding that increased medical malpractice litigation has led to higher health care costs and reduced patient access to health care.
Medical Malpractice Insurance. In this June, 2003 report to Congress, The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) identifies medical liability claims as the primary driver of dramatically increasing medical liability insurance costs.
Addressing the New Health Care Crisis: Reforming the Medical Litigation System to Improve the Quality of Health Care. An 2003 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services giving a comprehensive overview of the medical liability crisis and the vital need for reform.
Neurosurgery in Crisis. A 2002 survey of neurosurgeons finds that the medical liability crisis has caused 43% to restrict or consider restricting their practices (cutting back on high-risk procedures and emergency and trauma coverage); while 48% are either considering or plan to move or retire.
Institute of Medicine Report: A Response. Richard E. Anderson demonstrates the factual errors and methodological shortcomings of the report’s conclusion, often cited by the personal injury attorney’s, that between 44,000 and 98,000 patients die each year due to medical errors.
The Case for Legal Reform. A chapter from Richard E. Anderson’s “Medical Malpractice: A Physician’s Sourcebook,” edited by Richard E. Anderson, M.D. (can be downloaded as a PDF file).
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