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Special points of interest:
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A Time for Choosing in the US Senate
 On December 12, Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) offered an amendment to this year’s farm bill designed to address the severe shortage of OB-GYN doctors in rural America. His Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Rural Access to Care amendment would help pay medical expenses and put reasonable limits on non-economic damages in medical liability lawsuits. Unfortunately, the amendment failed. But DMLR applauds Senator Gregg’s efforts to bring this important issue to the forefront.
Today, nearly half of all the States in our nation are suffering a crisis in the availability of high-quality obstetrical care services because frivolous lawsuits have driven thousands of OB-GYNS to stop delivering babies. Senator Gregg’s home state of New Hampshire is a case in point, where double-digit premium increases have left only one practicing obstetrician in the entire rural North Country.
Once again, it was the “Time for Choosing” in the U.S. Senate. Senator Gregg summed it up nicely, “It’s a choice between helping these woman and families or protecting trial lawyers. This amendment falls on the side of families and women’s health.”
For complete coverage of Gregg’s statement, click here, and for a compelling TV news report on the nationwide doctor shortage, and one pregnant mother’s scary and jolting ride through mountain roads to reach an obstetrician who could treat her high-risk pregnancy, click here.
Personal Injury Lawyers — Hoisted on Their Own Petard
 We won’t deny a certain feeling of satisfaction in watching personal injury lawyers get their comeuppance at the hands of exasperated judges. It seems that every once in a while a lawsuit will transcend frivolousness and pass over into outright absurdity – and our esteemed members of the bench feel compelled to step in and stop the charade, if only to preserve the dignity of their courts.
Two such recent cases had to do with mistaken identity. In Cleveland, orthopedic surgeon Michael A. Banks won back the legal fees he incurred defending himself – all the way to the Supreme Court – despite the patient’s statement to her lawyer that Dr. Banks was not the doctor who mistreated her. Topping that is the Mississippi personal injury lawyer who was sanctioned for wrongfully suing a doctor instead of his deceased father and refusing to drop the claim even after being made aware of his mistake.
Such common sense rulings are all to rare, however, so we’re happy to note that Dr. Jeffrey Segal and his group Medical Justice have had some success in discouraging meritless lawsuits with their own method. It’s very straightforward: they simply inform the personal injury lawyer that their client may counter-sue if he continues to press his meritless claim. According to Dr. Segal – one-time neurosurgeon — only 11% of such cases are ever carried through. For more information on Dr. Segal and Medical Justice, click here. And for more “it-would-be-funny-if-it-weren’t-so-appalling” examples of personal injury lawyer tactics, read this report.
The Floodwaters Have Stopped Rising – For Now
 According to the latest Medical Liability Monitor survey, some 53% of doctor’s insurance premiums held steady in 2007 and some 31% inched downward ever so slightly. This is good news, of course, but proclaiming the crisis over would be like a family, huddled on the roof of their home to escape a flood, proclaiming all is well because the water stopped rising at attic level.
Illinois is a good example. That state saw some of the largest decreases in insurance premiums in 2007 in large part due to the enactment of comprehensive medical liability reform in 2005. But after years of steadily rising premiums, internists (at $50, 464), general surgeons (at $127,083) and ob-gyns (at $178,291) still have to shell out some of the highest rates in the country. And now, Illinois personal injury lawyers are seeking to undo the reforms that have successfully stabilized the insurance market in that state.
In addition, there are other reasons for concern. “What keeps me awake at night,” says James D. Hurley, the Monitor’s editor, “is what we perceive to be an increasing number of large claims.” Litigation expenses are also rising, he notes, very possibly putting pressure on insurers to raise rates in the near future. To read the full report, click here.
Family Doctors and Their Patients Feel the Pinch
 Click here to see Fox News’ report on the growing number of family practitioners closing their doors, leaving thousands of patients, primarily the elderly, searching far and wide for physicians to take over their care. Fox News highlights the experience of Dr. Joseph Lalka, a family doctor in Chatham, N.Y. who was forced to end his practice on October 11 after 26 years. Over a five year period, Lalka watched his insurance premiums go from $8,000 a year to $18,900. Combined with shrinking Medicare reimbursements, it had simply become impossible to make a living as a family practitioner.
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