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Medical Malpractice
Protect Patients, Not Insurance Companies
Tort-reform is code language for taking away people’s legal rights. The special interests pushing tort reform want to cap, or limit, the amount of non-economic damages injured people can receive regardless of the amount of harm inflicted upon them. Non-economic damages include all of the harm victims of medical malpractice suffer aside from direct medical costs and lost wages if they can no longer work.
These damages include real life-altering injuries such as the loss of a limb or sight, the ability to walk, loss of fertility, permanent excruciating pain or horrible disfigurement. Non-economic damages also attempt to compensate in some meaningful way for the loss a family may experience from a mother no longer able to care for her children, a husband who will never be able to hug his wife again, or the death of a child. Proponents of medical malpractice tort reform would have Mainers believe that these types of injuries are somehow less real or legitimate than lost wages or easily counted medical bills. What price would you place on your child’s life?
The truth is Maine has some of the lowest medical malpractice insurance rates in the country. According to the October 2004 Medical Liability Monitor, Maine had the seventh lowest rates of any state in the nation. In fact, the same analysis showed our rates were far lower than those of 21 states that have passed caps on non-economic damages.
What the special interests who back tort reform aren’t telling Maine people is that study after study has found little to no connection between medical malpractice insurance premium rates and caps on non-economic damages. The same issue of Medical Liability Monitor mentioned above found that states with caps on non-economic damages have insurance premiums that are 9.8% higher on average than those for states without caps on such damages.
If caps don't reduce medical malpractice insurance premium rates, why institute such harsh and unfair restrictions on people's legal rights? Corporate greed and mismanagement—the same reason Americans pay the most for health care of any nation in the world or the highest prices for prescription drugs. The October 15, 2004 edition of Modern Physician magazine reported on a study that concluded, "The real drivers of the rise in premiums over the past four years have been low interest rates, a sour national economy and the legacy of overly aggressive pricing policies in the years before the 'crisis' began in late 2000..."
We know the best approach to avoiding many diseases is prevention. The same approach should be applied to the practice of medicine. The secret many in the health care industry don't want the public to know is how many mistakes are made every day that cause serious injury and sometimes death. An estimated 98,000 Americans die every year from medical errors and many more are seriously harmed according to The Institute of Medicine report, To Err is Human. Don't we have an obligation to do everything feasible to prevent medical errors?
The good news is Maine is attempting to address the root causes of medical errors through the Maine Quality Forum, part of the Dirigo Health reform plan passed in 2003. An MPA leader serves on this group that is focused on improving the quality of medicine in Maine. As we improve quality and eliminate medical mistakes, medical malpractice insurance premiums will fall just like any other type of insurance when fewer claims are made.
Health care providers struggle against insurance companies who attempt to tell them how to practice medicine, what they will be paid, and who among their patients will receive care. At MPA, we acknowledge the thousands of Maine doctors, nurses and other health providers giving excellent care. Health care providers want to provide the best care possible for their patients. Doctors swear an oath to first and foremost "do no harm." We urge Maine’s citizens and policy-makers to join us in eliminating medical errors, not patients' rights.
To Err is Human
"The knowledgeable health reporter for the Boston Globe, Betsy Lehman, died from an overdose during chemotherapy. Willie King had the wrong leg amputated. Ben Kolb was eight years old when he died during ''minor" surgery due to a drug mix-up..."
read To Err is Human, an Institute of Medicine report