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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Massachusetts
According to the American Medical Association, Massachusetts is a
"crisis" state.
Reality Check:
Massachusetts already caps noneconomic damages and punitive damages
are not allowed.
Insurance Reform: With an increasing number of physicians,
it may appear like Massachusetts' severe restrictions on patients'
rights worked. Unfortunately, only the insurance companies have benefited
from less accountability. Some facts:
- MA limits the recovery of victims of malpractice, yet average
malpractice premiums in the state are 23% higher than in states
without limits on patients' claims. (Based on data from the Medical
Liability Monitor Oct. 2004)
- Despite limits, MA OB/Gyn premiums are 52% higher than in states
without caps. (Based on data from the Medical Liability Monitor
Oct. 2004)
- From 2000 to 2004, claims payments to victims of malpractice dropped
over $21.7 million at Massachusetts' largest malpractice insurer,
Medical Professional Mutual (ProMutual). Yet, ProMutual still raised
premiums for doctors, bringing in more than $165 million during
that same time period. (Based on ProMutual's annual statement for
the year ending December 31, 2004; data is from the five-year historical
data page)
Medical Malpractice & Preventable Errors
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 Massachusetts alone, preventable medical errors in hospitals cost
$384-$654 million a year, according to the consumer safety and health
organization Public
Citizen.
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...
Faces of Medical Malpractice
Taylor McCormack of Massachusetts lost her life because of medical
malpractice. A shunt placed in her skull at birth was malfunctioning,
and her attending physician slept through repeated pages leaving two
residents in charge of her care. An increase in carbon-dioxide levels
in her blood went unnoted on her chart, and she died waiting for surgery
while her doctor was sleeping. Taylor was only 13 months old.
Source: Center
for Justice & Democracy
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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