Tort reform: The truth of the matter

As state legislatures and Congress get ready for another round of tort reform bills, doctors need to be ready to dispel incorrect facts bantered about in the debate.

Editorial. Feb. 20, 2006.

State legislatures are back in session and ready to tackle tort reforms ranging from caps on noneconomic damages awarded in medical liability lawsuits to requiring plaintiffs to obtain a certificate of merit before filing a case. Congress is expected to take up tort reform later this year as well.

As doctors in states such as Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Texas and others can attest, it takes moxie to win on tort reform. Chances are trial lawyers will outspend doctors in the legislative fights. But doctors have one huge edge in their capitol fights: The truth.

Tort reform that includes a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages can stabilize soaring medical liability insurance rates. That, in turn, stops physicians from retiring early, abandoning high-risk procedures and moving out of state to keep practicing the profession they love.

Now, you may have seen recent studies that say otherwise. One study in particular has received a lot of attention from those on the wrong side of the tort reform debate.

It's a report from the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights that claims insurance companies paid out 30% less than the initial estimated losses they reported to state regulators between 1986 and 1994. Those findings echoed those of a July 2005 study that former Missouri Insurance Commissioner Jay Angoff penned for the Center for Justice and Democracy, a group that opposes what they refer to as the "so-called 'tort reform' movement."

These findings are bunk.