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GOVERNMENT & MEDICINEPhysicians take plea for liability reform to House panelAMA testifies that unless Congress caps jury awards, the liability problem will continue to threaten access to care in many states.By Amy Snow Landa, AMNews staff. July 1, 2002. Washington -- Amid signs that the medical liability crisis continues to spread throughout the nation, the U.S. House held a hearing recently to examine the impact of the problem on patients' access to medical care. For months, there have been numerous reports that physicians are struggling with soaring liability premiums in many areas of the country. Some physicians, particularly in high-risk specialties, have been forced to leave or limit their practices. Practicing medicine has simply become too risky for many physicians in states that lack strong tort reform laws, testified AMA President-elect Donald J. Palmisano, MD. The hearing, held by the House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law, posed the question, "Does Limitless Litigation Restrict Access to Health Care?" You bet it does, Dr. Palmisano told lawmakers. Emergency departments are losing staff and curtailing certain services, such as trauma units. Many obstetrician-gynecologists and family physicians have stopped delivering babies because they cannot find or afford insurance, he said. Some high-risk procedures, such as neurosurgery, are being postponed. "It is our patients who suffer the true cost of a broken medical liability system," Dr. Palmisano told the panel. The AMA has warned that the crisis will worsen unless Congress enacts legislation to cap jury awards in medical malpractice suits. Escalating jury awards are driving the steep premium increases, Dr. Palmisano testified. The median jury award jumped 43% between 1999 and 2000, according to data compiled by Jury Verdict Research. More than half of all jury awards today exceed $1 million -- up from 34% in 1996. [...] Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2002 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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