Metro East Physicians Targeted in Lawsuits

A study issued by the Illinois Civil Justice League (ICJL) reveals some bone-chilling statistics:

• From 2000 to 2003, 422 individual medical liability lawsuits were filed in Madison and St. Clair counties, representing 1,082 medical defendants that include individual physicians, practices, hospitals and other health care providers.
• The number of medical liability lawsuits grew by 13% over the four-year period; the number of defendants grew by 14%.
• n In 2001, the number of medical liability defendants increased 48% from the prior year.
• Contrary to the trial lawyers’ belief that “bad doctors” are to blame for the medical liability crisis, the study found that two-thirds of physicians named in medical liability lawsuits appeared just once over the fouryear period.

The report states: “Regardless of accusations made against the malpractice insurance industry, there is tremendous empirical evidence that a major correction to the Metro East legal system is warranted.” ICJL calls the spread of frivolous lawsuit filings a “silent virus” that “has infected almost every aspect of healthcare in the Metro East region.”

Get more of the facts regarding the Metro East medical liability crisis. To read
or download the entire report, go to www.icjl.org/TheMedMalStudy.pdf.
(ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company is a founding member of ICJL.)

California Attorney Fees Plummet Due to Caps

A just-released study by nonprofit research organization Rand Corp. examined 257 plaintiff verdicts in California medical liability trials that took place from 1995-1999. The study found that plaintiff attorneys’ fees dropped by an estimated 60 percent due to California’s cap on non-economic damage awards.

It’s no wonder lllinois plaintiff attorneys are adamant about maintaining limitless pain and
suffering awards. California’s cap is the cornerstone of its Medical Injury Compensation
Reform Act (MICRA), in force since 1975. The legislation was designed to reduce the overall number of claims brought against health care providers and the costs of resolving those claims.

Changing the Medical Malpractice Dispute Process: What Have We Learned From California’s MICRA?, may be viewed in its entirety at www.rand.org.