Baseless Allegations Concerning Medical Malpractice Tort Reform
A doctor in Maryland uses scare tactics to convince citizens that medical malpractice reform is necessary. In an editorial in the Baltimore Sun, Dr. Hass wrote:
At a time when the nation's economy is slumping and the governor is proposing to mandate that Maryland hospitals and physicians provide more free care to lower-income families, it's ironic that the state House Judiciary Committee, led by trial lawyer Joseph F. Vallario Jr., is proposing legislation to roll back the reforms in the state's medical malpractice insurance policies enacted in 2004 ("Attack of the trial lawyers," editorial, Feb. 17).
Such a rollback would ultimately result in higher malpractice insurance rates for doctors and hospitals, higher health care costs for consumers, higher health insurance premiums for businesses and, of course, higher incomes for well-heeled trial lawyers.
Perhaps the "attack" of these lawyers on physicians and hospitals will only abate when enough doctors have left Maryland and enough hospitals have closed that they no longer have anyone left to sue.
There is numerous articles that have discredited the fallacy that medical malpractice lawsuits cause higher medical malpractice premiums, health care costs to consumers, and an exodus of doctors from sates. In fact, look at California, they have had medical malpractice caps for over 20 years and there is no change compared to other states that have not passed tort reform.
In DC, there are no caps. The last time I checked, there are no shortage of doctors or exodus. In fact, the DC Metro area is overly saturated with physicians to the point where physicians' salaries are less here than many other parts of the country for a lack of demand. With respect to higher premiums, if you look at the data, medical malpractice cases account for less than 1% of the health care costs in the country.
The author's use of attack is indicative of the lack of facts to support the position taken by thus doctor. This doctor should look at the insurance companies as for the cause of higher premiums an look at the insurance companies books before he blindly blames the "attacking" lawyer.
I suggest to this doctor or anyone who has the same viewpoint to pray that no one in their family is on the receiving end of being malpracticed upon.
