Under Attack (Continued from page 3)
Association have been pushing nationally and which could not muster 50 votes in the U.S. Senate in July. The AMA is now run by a doctor who runs a medical mal- practice claims adjusting business and has directly aligned itself with a White House dogged with an obsession to attack our profession for political gain. ␣ The Med Chi website plainly states that its cam- paign to restrict patient rights is modeled on the AMA’s. Marylanders now face a major legisla-
tive effort in the upcoming legislative session to impose even more restrictions on patients who prove that they have been severely hurt by medical malpractice. This battle will take place in a state that already has caps, lacks needed insurance reform, ranks 46th in the nation in doctor disci- pline (down form 19th in 1993), and has a serious repeat offender problem. ␣ How serious? ␣ According to research by Public Citizen, since 1990, less than 1% of Mary- land physicians have paid three or more malpractice claims, but this group of 180 physicians accounts for 24% of all mal- practice payouts. What’s worse is that only 21% of them have ever been disciplined. Med Chi and Medical Mutual claim that there is a malpractice claims crisis,
but there is no such crisis in Maryland. The number of claims filed at the HCA are flat, Medical Mutual’s premiums have been flat for over a decade and malprac- tice payouts have risen less than medical services inflation. The crisis that does ex- ist is that there is too much malpractice. The national Institute of Medicine con- cluded in 2000 that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die in U.S. hospitals every year due to preventable medical mistakes. It means that more persons die needlessly in American hospitals every year than die in car crashes on our roads. Nevertheless, Med Chi has actively op- posed stronger doctor discipline in Maryland’s Legislature. Since we speak for patients harmed by medical error - people like Gilford Tyler - all of us in the MTLA leadership will work vigorously alongside patients and consum- ers against Med Chi and Medical Mutual. But the MTLA leadership is only a
small part of the battle. We need the help of every trial lawyer, and not just those who handle medical cases. Rest assured, if this attack on malpractice claims is suc- cessful, it will pave the way for attacks on all of our clients. Even more importantly, we need to in- form and empower our clients. The insurance and medical lobbies have been particularly adept in other states where
malpractice restrictions were enacted of getting information, however skewed, to their patients about the malpractice de- bate. In fact, the GAO just recently issued a report debunking many of the AMA’s claims about physicians being forced to leave practice and medical services becom- ing unavailable. All of us need to inform all of our clients about the facts, the stakes involved and how their legal rights would be affected. We need to arm them so that when speaking to their friends and rela- tives they can help defend the jury system and the rights of injured parties. It’s about the clients, and their voices need to be heard.
As we go into battle, I am grateful that our organization is in good shape. In that regard, we owe thanks to many persons, but especially Rob Jenner and Bruce Plaxen, my two predecessors. But make no mistake. We are the underdogs. Med Chi and Medical Mutual are following a nationally choreographed script, and pa- tients in Maryland can expect that powers from afar will be working against them here at home. ␣ But we are determined and our deter- mination comes from the fact that we are on the right side of this battle – the side of the patients and patient safety. MTLA will be calling on all of you for help in the months ahead.
WALLS REPORTING, INC. 410-647-6434
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Trial Reporter
Summer 2003
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