Medical Malpractice in Your State
limiting patients' rights does not improve care or lower insurance
rates
Reality Check | Medical Malpractice
& Preventable Errors | Victims | Lawsuits
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Florida
According to the American Medical Association, Florida is a "crisis"
state.
Reality Check:
Florida already caps noneconomic and punitive damages.
Patient Safety is the Real Crisis
"At least three dozen Florida doctors operated on the wrong
body part or wrong patient in each of the past two years despite efforts
to combat such mistakes, sparking members of the state medical board
to call for harsher penalties," reports the South Florida
Sun-Sentinel ("State regulators debate stricter penalties
for surgery mistakes," 7/15/05)
With the state board of medical examiners at a loss for controlling
the problem, the last thing lawmakers should do is limit patients'
rights even further. "If you have a safety system in place that
can't prevent just operating on the wrong limb, can you imagine what
other mistakes happen?" asks Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Schlesinger.
State Health Official Testifies; Doctors
Are Not Fleeing Florida
Testimony of Diane Orcutt, Deputy Director of Medical Quality Assurance,
FL Department of Health, before the FL Senate Committee on Judiciary,
7/15/03
| Q: |
"My question is: If somebody, according to your records,
were to come before the Senate and say there are less doctors
today than there were five years ago, is that accurate, yes or
no? That’s it, yes or no?" |
| A: |
"I would say according to our annual reports, our published
information, yes, there are more." |
Medical Malpractice & Preventable Errors
Nationally, medical errors are a real concern with USA
Today
reporting that medical errors seriously injure 1 in 10 hospitalized
patients.
In fact, the Institute of
Medicine reported as early as 1999 that medical errors are a national
crisis. Yet, those same researchers recently
noted that despite 5 years of calls to action, the medical community
has made little progress in reducing the risk to patients who use
the healthcare system. In particular, researcher Lucian Leape thinks
that the medical community "has deflected attention from saving
patients to saving money." read
more...
The issue has not escaped Florida. "At least three dozen Florida
doctors operated on the wrong body part or wrong patient in each of
the past two years despite efforts to combat such mistakes, sparking
members of the state medical board to call for harsher penalties,"
reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. See top
story for more information.
Patient Safety Should Come First
Instead of limiting patients' rights, Congress should look to preventing
insurance companies from price-gouging doctors and help implement
processes that will put patient safety first. Fixing the system to
put patient safety first will ultimately bring down costs for everyone.
In Florida alone, preventable medical errors in hospitals cost $965
million-1.647 billion a year, according to the consumer safety and
health organization Public
Citizen.
Faces of Medical Malpractice
Eight-month-old Kendyll Bliss of Monroe County, Florida, died as
a result of medical malpractice. She was killed when an adult-sized
IV was inserted into her jugular vein causing an air bubble. This
resulted in a brain embolism that caused cardiac arrest. Kendyll was
being treated for dehydration due to a cold.
Source: Floridians
for Patient Protection
"A Margate eye specialist mixed up two cataract patients in
their 80s and implanted the wrong lenses in their eyes last year,
according to state records posted online. The doctor had performed
seven cataract procedures in a row and did not double-check properly.
The two women needed second surgeries to put in the right lenses...
"A Boca Raton man who needed surgery in 1999 to correct severe
heartburn wound up having his esophagus removed, according to state
records and the patient's attorney, Scott Liberman. The surgical team
confused him with another patient who needed his esophagus removed,
said Liberman...
"A Spring Hill surgeon sliced into the wrong leg of a woman
who had a ruptured tendon in her ankle, even though the leg was marked
with a "no," according to state records posted online. He
left the room and didn't realize when he returned that the woman had
been flipped face-down..."
Source: "State
Regulators Debate Stricter Penalties for Surgery Mistakes"
(South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 7/15/2005)
Read about other victims
of medical malpractice in Florida.
Number of Personal Injury Lawsuits
There is no litigation explosion. The National Center for State Courts
Recently reported that:
- Tort filings have declined by 5% since 1993. Contract filings,
meanwhile, which are more likely to involve businesses than tort
cases, rose by 21% over the same period.1
- Automobile tort filings, which make up the majority of all tort
claims, have fallen by 5% by 1993 and 14% since their high in 1996.1
- Medical malpractice filings per 100,000 population have fallen
1% since 1998.2
- In 22 of the 30 states that NCSC examined population-adjusted
tort findings declined from 1992 to 2001. The average change in
tort filings across all 30 states was a 15% decrease.1
Sources:
- Examining the Work of State Courts, 2003, National Center for
State Courts (NCSC) 2004
- Medical Malpractice Filings per 100,000 Population in 11 and
17 States, 1993-2002, National Center for State Courts, 2004 (unpublished,
on file with author)
Updated September 2005
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