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Medical Malpractice: States
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Medical malpractice is currently the third leading cause of death in the United States. Approximately 200,000 people in the United States die each year due to mistakes by medical professionals and prescription errors, according to a recent report from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It was reported that 12,000 deaths a year result from unnecessary surgery - 7000 from medication errors in hospitals - 20,000 deaths are caused by other hospital errors - 80,000 deaths a year from hospital born infections and 106,000 deaths a year from non-error, adverse effects of medications.
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A 2007 Medical Liability Monitor survey of medical malpractice company rate changes for three specialties suggests rates are holding steady or dropping. About 84 percent of the more than 800 rates quoted showed no rate change or a rate decrease, compared with 70 percent last year. Upper Midwest states generally have the lowest rates while Florida has the highest.
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"Medical malpractice insurance is now an industry dominated by specialist companies, often in the form of physician-owned mutuals," said Stephan Christiansen, director of research at Conning. "This emphasis on specialization allows insurers to control losses better, identify loss trends, and moderate market swings. Yet this specialization ... increases state concentration, and the potential for more dramatic competitive interactions- both positive and negative."
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The 2006 state legislative sessions continue to be active in carrying overreforms introduced in 2005,introducing new medical malpractice reforms, and modifying programs that have been enacted in previous sessions. Most bills in 2005 focused on traditional tort reform issues such as limits to noneconomic damage awards, the allocation of plaintiff attorney fees as a percentage of a damages award, expert witness standards, and the inadmissibility of apology statements by health care practitioners. These issues continue to appear in the 2006 legislation, but are increasingly accompanied by a focus on greater accountability for insurance companies by requiring reports frommedical malpractice insurance providers and proposingvarious state controls on insurance premium rates. States are ... looking at litigation alternatives such as the "Sorry Works" program. As of May 1, 36 states are considering medical malpractice legislation in some form, and nine states have enacted bills this year. Please see this list for details.
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[Cheri Rinehart, vice president of integrated delivery systems for the Hospital & Healthcare Association of Pennsylvania], “called the environment for physicians in Pennsylvania “caustic.” Medical malpractice costs, along with a lack of tort reform, has made the state unattractive to doctors. Citing the state's statistics, she said less than 8 percent of hospital residents who train in Pennsylvania stay.”
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Tort Reform Initiatives: In November 2007 Illinois’ landmark 2005 medical malpractice reform legislation was overturned. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Larson ruled that caps on pain and suffering are unconstitutional. Her rationale was based on a state Supreme Court decision in 1997, which said the limits disregard the jury’s role in determining appropriate compensation. Supporters point to the positive impact of the law: the number of medical malpractice lawsuits has declined; premiums are stable or declining; more medical malpractice insurers are doing business in the state... increasing competition; and doctors are not shunning the state as they once did. The law caps damages at $500,000 for a doctor and $1million for a hospital.
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