Medical Malpractice in Your State limiting patients' rights does not improve care or lower insurance rates
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Pennsylvania
According to the American Medical Association, Pennsylvania is a
"crisis" state.
Reality Check:
Pennsylvania already caps punitive damages.
The Truth About Pennsylvania: In
April, the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Medical Society acknowledged
to state lawmakers that the doctors group lacks statistical evidence
to support its three-year claim that doctors are leaving the state
in large numbers, and admitted that ''Some data sources show an 800-doctor
gain."
—"Doctors Can't Prove Thinning Ranks, Medical Society
Chief Admits Group Lacks Statistics to Show Physicians are Leaving,"
Allentown Morning Call, 4/24/04
Price of Medical Malpractice
| Total of PA Health Providers' Medical Malpractice
Premiums Paid in 2002: |
$499.0 Million |
| Annual Costs Resulting from Preventable
Medical Errors in PA Hospitals: |
$742 Million–$1.266 Billion |
Source: Medical Malpractice Briefing Book: Challenging the Misleading
Claims of the Doctors' Lobby, Public Citizen Congress Watch, rev.
August 2004
Faces of Medical Malpractice
On September 1, 1995, Morris Borger of Pennsylvania went to his doctors
for treatment of a mole on his back. The mole was partially removed
and was sent for analysis. The doctors failed to follow the recommendation
for complete removal of the affected area. In 1996, Mr. Borger returned
to the same doctors who allegedly removed a sebaceous cyst from the
same area of his back. The cyst was discarded without pathological
examination. In 1997, Mr. Borger had two more cysts removed in the
same medical office. The tissue was finally sent for diagnosis and
was identified as malignant metastic melanoma. Mr. Borger and his
wife commenced a medical malpractice action on March 5, 1999. On July
9, 1999, Mr. Borger died from the doctors' failure to follow recommendations.
Source: Borger v. Murphy
Read about other victims
of medical malpractice in Pennsylvania.
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 February 2005
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