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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Group: Statistics Refute Claims of Lawsuit ‘Crisis’ KINGSTON – Statistics issued Monday by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which show a 34 percent drop in the number of medical malpractice cases filed statewide, provide further proof that the only way to rein in liability insurance premiums for doctors is to regulate malpractice insurers, a Northeastern Pennsylvania victims’ rights advocacy group said today. “Doctors across the state ought to be outraged that their liability insurance premiums have gone through the roof while the number of lawsuits has dropped by one-third,” said Paul Lyon, Executive Director of The Committee for Justice for All. The continuing decline in cases filed statewide is the result of a variety of restrictions imposed by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2002, which were designed to reduce the number of malpractice lawsuits filed in the state, Lyon said. The latest statistics issued by the Supreme Court “clearly show that the restrictions put in place by the state are working, and that there is absolutely no reason to take away an injured patient’s Constitutional right to fair and just compensation.” The only way to reduce doctors’ insurance costs, Lyon said, is for the state to aggressively regulate the insurance industry. He said tighter controls on the way liability insurers invest premium dollars and set rates will lower costs for health-care providers. Caps will do nothing to help doctors, but “will only add insult to injury” for patients harmed or killed by medical negligence. The new numbers follow on the heels of two studies of malpractice claims in Texas and Florida, which showed no correlation between claims and insurance premium increases. Unfortunately for residents of those two states, Lyon said, the legislatures have already voted to impose caps on non-economic damages. Lyon also pointed out that at the same time case filings are going down, the number of deaths caused by preventable medical errors continues to rise. A study last year by HealthGrades Inc., found that as many as 195,000 patients die every year in hospitals due to preventable mistakes, making medical errors the third-leading cause of death in America behind heart disease and cancer. CJA is a nonprofit Northeastern Pennsylvania advocacy group fighting to preserve the integrity of the civil justice system and the Constitutional right of all Americans to trial by a jury of their peers. For more information, please visit our web site at www.saynotocaps.org. ### |
