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Texas doctors say liability costs are driving them away

As frustration mounts, physicians take a day off from seeing patients and make appointments with state lawmakers to talk about soaring insurance premiums.

By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. April 22/29, 2002.

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Clad in a white lab coat decorated with a stark black armband reminiscent of Vietnam War protests, Edinburg, Texas, internist Linda Villarreal, MD, walked the mile from her office to the Hidalgo County Courthouse on April 8 to draw attention to an issue she believes has the potential to tear apart the health system.

Once there, she rallied with about 1,000 physicians, support staff and patients who shared her concern. Some of them came from as far away as El Paso, more than 600 miles to the northwest. They carried signs in Spanish and English calling for "Fairness, Yes ... Greed, No!" Other signs informed lawmakers and patients who may have been seeing the rally via extensive media coverage, "You May Be Losing Your Doctor."

Their message: Stop lawsuit abuse before unaffordable medical liability insurance drives physicians out of Texas, particularly the Rio Grande Valley in the southern part of the state.

"It went better than expected," said Dr. Villarreal, who was joined by her office staff and about a half dozen patients. "You were surrounded by a sense of support and pride."

Texas physicians aren't alone in their cry for help.

As a result of insurance companies receiving smaller returns on investments since the economy's downturn, juries awarding larger sums of money and insurance companies pulling out of the medical liability market, physicians across the nation have seen substantial increases in liability insurance premiums.

And although physicians are traditionally known for their independence, this has been an issue they're willing to rally around. In the past year, physicians in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, West Virginia, Florida and Nevada have stormed their state capitols in white coats asking for legislative help. [...]