Medical Malpractice in Your State

limiting patients' rights does not improve care or lower insurance rates

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Washington

According to the American Medical Association, Washington is a "crisis" state.

Reality Check:

• The number of doctors has gone up,
• the frequency of insurance payments to victims has gone down, and
• the median compensation victims receive has gone down.

Punitive damages are already abolished.

Legislative Update: In the 2005 election season, the insurance industry spent millions on a ballot initiative 330 to curtail patients' rights even more severely. I-330 would have arbitrarily capped compensation for patients in all cases, no matter how severe the injury or how bad the mistake, and allowed insurance companies to force patients into mandatory binding arbitration. Ultimately, Washington state voters saw through the industry's rhetoric and rejected I-330 by a margin of 57% to 43%. Read more.

Washington's Largest Malpractice Insurer Price-Gouging Doctors

In October 2005, Washington Citizen Action and the Center for Justice & Democracy released a study analyzing the annual statements of Washington's largest malpractice insurer, Physicians Insurance. The findings show that while claims paid to victims of malpractice have dropped, the insurance industry continued to raise rates. According to the insurer's own records, during the last 10 years:

• Physicians' total claims payments in Washington declined by 19%;
• the number of claims Physicians paid in Washington declined by 23%;
• Physicians' surplus increased by 49%;
• Physicians' premiums increased by 99%.
• In addition, its ten most recent Annual Statements indicate that Physicians has historically paid out 39% less on a given year's policies than it initially projected it would pay out.
  

Based on the report's findings, the rates Physicians Insurance is charging do not appear to be justified by Physicians' true loss experience. More on the insurance industry in Washington.

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...

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.

Insurance Industry

Despite existing limits on compensation for victims of medical negligence, insurance companies raised rates by 36.7% in the state between 2003 and 2004.

To end the industry's price-gouging of physicians, the Washington Office of the Insurance Commission ordered the state's largest malpractice insurer, Physicians Insurance, and its affiliate, Western Professional Insurance Company, to "refund more than $1.3 million plus interest in excess premiums charged in 2003."

Approximately 2,490 insured physicians who purchased $2 million or more of medical malpractice coverage will receive refunds ranging from $1 to $4,681. The average refund will be $534. The amount of each refund that physicians will receive will depend upon the amount of coverage they purchased and other factors the companies considered in rating their policy.

Faces of Medical Malpractice

Ian Malone of Seattle, WA was severely brain damaged at birth as the result of medical malpractice. His mother was given a drug to induce labor even though the drug's manufacturer warned against using it for that purpose. Ian and his parents have been strong advocates for patient safety, lobbying for a Patients' Bill of Rights at the state and federal levels. Ian was featured in a national television campaign. This past May, Ian died from complications due to medical malpractice, and he was only four years old. Upon his passing, his family issued the following statement:

"Ian's short life was a constant battle to improve the system for those who will come after him. We will sorely miss his beautiful smile and ready laugh, and are sorry his journey had to end so soon."

Learn more about Ian Malone at: www.babyian.com

Read about other victims of medical malpractice in Washington.

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:

1. Examining the Work of State Courts, 2003, National Center for State Courts (NCSC) 2004
2. 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 November 2005