Chairman of largest commercial medical malpractice insurer in the state says current tort system of dealing with medical injury is “fundamentally flawed”
Medical malpractice insurer says current tort system of dealing with medical injury harms doctors, leads to defensive medicine, and is fundamentally flawed.
Waltham, Mass. (PRWEB) November 23, 2003
- Barry M. Manuel, M. D., chairman of the board of ProMutual Group, the state’s largest commercial insurer for professional liability for physicians, said that the current tort system of dealing with medical injury is “fundamentally flawed” and is having a “profound influence on every aspect of our health care industry.”
Manuel, who is also Associate Dean and Professor of Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine and a past president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, made his remarks Wednesday evening (Nov. 19) before some 300 physicians as he delivered the Massachusetts Medical SocietyÂ’s 2003 Oration, an annual event designed to keep physicians informed on significant issues facing the medical profession. This yearÂ’s Oration, focusing on the issue of medical professional liability, was co-sponsored by the Middlesex District Medical Society and attracted its largest audience in years.
Citing national surveys of physicians and his experience at ProMutual Group, Manuel said the current flawed system of dealing with medical injury forces physicians to practice defensive medicine, compensates fewer than one in 16 patients who are negligently injured, makes individuals who litigate wait five to seven years before receiving compensation, consumes more than 60 percent of premiums paid by doctors for legal fees, and impedes the development of a patient safety system that requires self-reporting of errors. It also leads to higher health care costs, as the estimate of defensive medicine, conservatively according to Manuel, totals some $50 billion nationwide.
Manuel further stated that the system is having enormous impact on physicians, causing them to limit their practices to less risky procedures, abandon specialty practices, move to other states, and retire prematurely. Most important, he said, was the fact that this system is causing access to care problems, as trauma centers are closing; obstetricians are giving up delivering babies; neurosurgical care is increasingly becoming limited; and waiting times for orthopedic and radiological services, such as mammograms, are increasing.
Refuting the notions that the professional liability crisis has been caused by “bad doctors” and “bad insurance companies,” Manuel said “we have mechanisms built into the system to weed out bad doctors, and our insurance companies, regulated by state authorities, have invested conservatively and have actually made money in the last several years.”
He pointed to skyrocketing jury awards as the cause of the crisis. Manuel cited instances where Texas has seen a $268 million verdict, Philadelphia has recorded multiple verdicts in excess of $50 million, four claims in Arkansas totaled $98 million, and $23 million was awarded for one case in Massachusetts. Such jury awards, he said, have a huge impact on insurance settlements, driving them higher and higher.
While Manuel does support the legislative tort reform package of the Massachusetts Medical Society now before the legislature, he said “our fault-based tort system will never provide satisfactory long-term solutions to our professional liability system no matter how we try to reform it.”
Manuel suggested that one option to consider is medical injury insurance, an insurance-based system funded by those who receive the benefits and one that can compensate more patients. Such a system, he said, “would be fair, timely, efficient, reduce the cost of defensive medicine, remove the physician from the ever-present fear of being sued, and promote a patient safety system that would include self-reporting of errors.”
The crisis in medical malpractice insurance has become one of the most significant issues now facing doctors nationwide. Both the American Medical Association and the Massachusetts Medical Society have designated liability reform as their number one legislative priority. The comprehensive tort reform package now before state lawmakers was filed last December.
The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 18,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the physicians and patients of Massachusetts. Founded in 1781, the MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. The Society owns and publishes The New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal Watch family of professional newsletters, AIDS Clinical Care, and produces HealthNews, a consumer health publication. For more information, visit www. massmed. org.
###
