New PC Report - No Link Between MD Insurance Rates, Malpractice Lawsuits

[Guest guest]

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:29:55 -0400

" Congress Watchdog " <CONGRESSWATCHDOG

 

[CWATCHDOGCIVJUS] New PC Report - No Link Between MD

Insurance Rates, Malpractice Lawsuits

 

 

 

 

 

PUBLIC CITIZEN PRESS RELEASE (our apologies for any duplicate postings

you receive)

 

 

 

For Immediate Release: April 19, 2005

 

 

New Report Finds No Link Between Spike in Doctors' Insurance Rates and

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits by Injured Patients

 

Most Recent Government Data Reveal Declining Malpractice Payouts;

Real Crisis Continues to Be Inadequate Measures for Guaranteeing

Patient Safety

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The latest national data on physician malpractice

payments show no evidence that the spike in doctors' insurance rates is

due to lawsuits by patients, a new study by Public Citizen confirms.

 

At the same time that insurance rates in some areas have been climbing,

the number and total value of malpractice payouts to patients have been

flat since 1991 and, in fact, show a significant decline since 2001,

when the spike in insurance rates began, the study found.

 

" The hard, factual evidence cannot be any clearer: We have no medical

malpractice lawsuit crisis in America, " said Joan Claybrook, president

of Public Citizen. " Insurance companies may be padding their bottom

lines by jacking up rates on doctors, but it is not because of patients

seeking relief for bad medical care through our courts. The true crisis

continues to be in inadequate measures for patient safety and

incompetent medical care by a small number of physicians. "

 

The data show that from 1990 to 2004, only 5.5 percent of doctors

account for 57.3 percent of all malpractice payments. In addition, only

11.4 percent of doctors who have made three or more malpractice payouts

have ever been disciplined.

 

For the full press release, please go to

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1925

 

The report, Medical Malpractice Payment Trends 1991-2004; Evidence

Shows Lawsuits Haven't Caused Doctors' Insurance Woes, is available

online at

http://www.citizen.org/congress/civjus/medmal/articles.cfm?ID=13309.

 

Meanwhile, Public Citizen today also released its annual rankings of

state medical boards. The rankings, found online at

http://www.citizen.org/MedBoard, are based on data from the Federation

of State Medical Boards and specify the number of disciplinary actions

taken against doctors from 2002 to 2004.

 

For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.

 

---------------------------

For more information about this, and the other issues Public

Citizen works on, please visit our website at

http://www.citizen.org/