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With less than a handful of
physicians in attendance, Governor Rendell recently stopped by
the College of Physicians in Philadelphia to declare
Pennsylvania’s medical liability lawsuit abuse crisis is over.
The crisis was caused by widespread medical malpractice lawsuit
abuse, which in turn drove up medical liability costs, forcing
many Pennsylvania physicians out of business.
To support his assertion, the
governor pointed toward modest professional liability insurance
decreases for some physicians. Yet, he did not point out that
the double digit premium increases that occurred during almost
each year of this decade have not rolled back. Those increases,
some of which exceeded 50%, have driven thousands of physicians
out of work and caused patients across the commonwealth to lose
access to health care delivery services.
Governor Rendell also asserts that
medical liability lawsuits have decreased. What’s important,
however, is not the number of cases filed, but rather the number
of physicians within those cases who have been sued. The State
Medical Board reports approximately 12,000 Pennsylvania
physicians were sued for medical malpractice since May 2002.
Depending on which statistics one uses, that is nearly one-half
or one-third of Pennsylvania’s physicians. The Board, which is
under the Governor’s Office, has cleared more than half those
cases, and has found less than 100 cases warrant further action.
Clearly, there is an epidemic of medical liability lawsuit abuse
in Pennsylvania.
There are enough statistics for
everyone to argue. The real test is to look at the outcomes of
medical liability lawsuit abuse. Throughout Pennsylvania,
patients continue to lose access to care because many
physicians, maternity units, and trauma centers simply cannot
afford to stay in business. The crisis is far from over.
The situation is grim. Thirty-three
maternity units have closed across the commonwealth (including
all of Northeast Philadelphia’s maternity units); trauma units
have closed; and various specialists remain in critical
shortages such as OB/GYNs, neurosurgeons, endocrinologists, and
others.
Several trauma patients who might
have otherwise lived lost their lives in Chester County because
the county no longer has emergency neurosurgeons. In 1999, there
were six fulltime neurosurgeons. Today there are none.
Medical liability lawsuit abuse also
has a tremendous cost to Pennsylvania’s businesses. To guard
against potential lawsuits, many Pennsylvania physicians are
forced to practice “defensive medicine” – which includes
ordering more tests and procedures than they would in a less
hostile liability environment. Defensive medicine drives up
costs to health insurers, which is then directly passed on to
businesses.
Texas, a state that had a lawsuit
abuse crisis similar to Pennsylvania’s, enacted reforms that
made a substantial difference. As a result, the state’s Medical
Board is processing so many physician licenses it has reported a
major backlog. More physicians are practicing in Texas, patients
have better access to health care delivery services, and medical
liability insurance premiums have dropped. It is only a matter
of time until businesses experience a noticeable relief in
employee health care insurance costs.
To restore Pennsylvania patients’
access to quality health care services, our elected officials
must stop personal injury lawyers from filing frivolous
lawsuits. This can be accomplished by adopting reforms similar
to those in Texas to include:
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Placing a monetary cap on
non-economic damages in liability cases, so that personal
injury lawyers will file only legitimate cases.
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Placing a sensible cap on
attorney fees in liability cases, so that defendants who
were truly harmed can receive fair compensation.
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Restoring Pennsylvania’s Joint
and Several Liability Act (Fair Share Act), which was vetoed
by Governor Rendell in spite of his campaign promises.
Too much is at stake for our elected
officials to pretend Pennsylvania’s medical liability lawsuit
abuse crisis is over. It is time for our General Assembly to
stand up against special interests representing personal injury
lawyers and act on the behalf of Pennsylvania’s patients. |
