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MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM
You have been hearing and reading a lot about medical liability reform in the
news lately, and likely are aware that some physicians met in Springfield last
month to protest the current situation and to urge the state to take measures
to adopt medical liability reforms. University surgeons did not take part in that
demonstration. However, we strongly feel that reforms are badly needed.
We are frequently upset by indications in the media that indicate a real misunderstanding
of the issues. Doctors are made to seem careless, uncaring, and greedy. It is
said over and over that doctors are trying to deprive patients of their right
to compensation for errors. Nothing could be further from the truth. Doctors are
asking only for limitations on unreasonable awards, the increase of which is a
significant contributor to the cost of medical care today, costs that are passed
on to you as the ultimate payer for medical insurance premiums.
There are two main misconceptions:
Misconception #1): Doctors want to prevent patients from filing suits.
This is not true. What doctors want is to avoid the costs of suits that are
of no merit.
There are suits that are filed that are quite simply ludicrous. Medicine is
not an exact science, and healing can be unpredictable. Some conditions recur
with no apparent reason, and no doctor can prevent every condition from happening.
There are standards of care that a physician is expected to maintain, and doctors
do not argue that physicians who deviate from the standards of care should take
responsibility for their actions. What we disagree with is the suits that are
filed where no deviation exists. This concerns every person who pays taxes and
pays for medical bills or medical insurance. Even suits that are without merit
(frivolous) are costly to bring and to defend, because legal costs are high, and
because suits are being paid out because to do so avoids high legal costs. Either
way, when a frivolous suit is filed, the taxpayer loses.
Doctors propose that, as is done in most other states, a medical review board
would review all medical malpractice cases prior to their filing. The review board
would consist of doctors, lawyers, and lay people, to present an unbiased decision.
If the result of the review was a recommendation that the suit would be without
merit, the suit could still be filed. However, if the suit were to be subsequently
lost without a review board recommendation of merit, the costs would then be the
responsibility of the plaintiff. This does not deny any access at all to filing
of cases, but only properly assigns costs for those that are found to be without
merit.
Misconception #2) Doctors want to limit damages to $250,000.00
It needs to be understood that the amounts of awards are unrealistic.
There are two kinds of awards that are given by courts in malpractice cases:
“economic” and “non-economic” awards. Economic awards
are those that are granted for out of pocket expenses incurred by the plaintiff
(such as medical costs) and loss of income during the time of disability. They
will include estimates of what the person’s income would have been if there
were no disability and awards are given to reimburse the plaintiff for all these
costs. Doctors agree that full compensation of economic damages to injured patients
would remain unchanged.
Non-economic awards, also called “pain and suffering” awards,
should also be granted. However, what doctors feel is that a reasonable limit
should be set on the amount of the non-economic awards, for example, perhaps $250,000.00.
This is the policy that has been legislated and has worked well in many states,
but is being fought as unreasonable in Illinois.
Last week on a radio talk show I heard a “expert” make the ludicrous
statement that there was no evidence that large awards contributed to the increased
cost of malpractice insurance. Now just think about that. The average jury award
is now $3.5 million. Can anyone honestly think that payout's of 14 times $250,000.00
will have no effect on the cost of insurance? How can anyone believe that?
Who ultimately pays for this? Unfortunately, both doctors and patients do.
Doctors are leaving Illinois to practice in other nearby states that have better
malpractice laws, and ultimately the availability of good doctors here in Illinois
will decrease. And, once again, without reform, the costs of medical care will
continue to go up.
The Illinois State Medical Society maintains a web site to give access to health
issues in this state. You may visit them at www.realitymedicine.com.
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