Medical Malpractice in Your State limiting patients' rights does not improve care or lower insurance rates
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Wisconsin
According to the American Medical Association, states are losing
doctors because juries are out of control.
Reality Check:
Wisconsin already outlaws punitive damages in medical malpractice
or wrongful death cases. The state also caps compensation for cases
involving wrongful death. A general cap on noneconomic damages in
medical malpractice cases was ruled unconstitutional by the state
Supreme Court in July 2005.
No "Rational" Reason to Limit Patients' Rights
On July 14, 2005, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the state's
caps on non-economic (so-called pain and suffering) damages in medical
malpractice cases, saying they bear no "rational" relationship
to lower malpractice insurance premiums.
In its ruling, the Wisconsin court noted that the state insurance
commissioner concluded "no direct correlation can be drawn between
the caps enacted in 1995 and current rate changes taking place in
the primary market today."
With such a lack of evidence, the Court called the state's limits
"unreasonable and arbitrary" because they negatively impact
the most severely injured patients. Read
more
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 Wisconsin alone, preventable medical errors in hospitals cost $324-$553
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...
Insurance Industry
Despite some of the most severe restrictions on patients' rights
in the country, the largest malpractice insurer in Wisconsin, PIC
Wisconsin, continued to raise insurance rates. In fact, PIC Wisconsin's
malpractice premiums have increased at 10.6 times the rate of payouts
to injured patients, according to data from the company's own annual
statement.
In 2004 alone, PIC Wisconsin took in over $39.6 million in premiums.
That amount was 10 times more than it paid to compensate injured patients.
View chart
Insurance reform - not more limits on patients' rights - are needed
to reduce malpractice premiums for doctors. As the Wisconsin Supreme
Court ruled: "[T]he $350,000 ceiling adopted by the legislature
is unreasonable and arbitrary because it is not rationally related
to the legislative objective of lowering medical malpractice premiums."
Faces of Medical Malpractice
Linda McDougal of Woodville, Wisconsin was incorrectly diagnosed
with breast cancer due to a chart mix up. As a result, she suffered
an unnecessary double mastectomy. The infections that followed have
prevented reconstructive surgery. She lost both of her breasts to
medical malpractice.
An outspoken advocate for patient safety, Linda McDougal has appeared
on Oprah, and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine. She was
horrified upon hearing President Bush speak against medical malpractice
victims, and has been a strong spokesperson against attempts at limiting
medical malpractice liability ever since. Hear
Linda's story in her own words.
Contact AAJ Media Relations
for details.
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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