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DJP 2-18-2005 AMA Update - Testimony in Congress: Medical Liability Reform Press release and actual testimony follows. In addition, written testimony was submitted giving more information. Five minutes for each of the witnesses to present and then the Q & A where the fun starts. Stay well. DJP Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD
Lagniappe: Some of you have noted the problem of with the AMA addresses with the underscore between the first and last name. When it gets highlighted as a link, the long underscore hides the underscore between the two names. As of now, a new style, a dot between the names, also will work for AMA addresses. Eventually the underscore will be phased out.
(notice how you can't see the underscore connecting Donald and Palmisano)
Progress, a step at a time. Together we are stronger!
AMA to congress: Fix the broken medical liability systemTestifies to House Committee on Small Business For immediate release
WASHINGTON – Appealing to Congress to fix the broken medical liability system, the American Medical Association (AMA) testified to the House Committee on Small Business today that patient access to care is threatened by the liability crisis. "Twenty states are in a medical liability crisis, and patient access to care is suffering," AMA Immediate-Past President Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD said. "Congress must act, or the crisis surely will spread." Enacting proven medical liability reforms that include a quarter million dollar cap on non-economic damages is the AMA's top legislative priority. The AMA solution for reform is based on a model working successfully in California for nearly 30 years to maintain patient access to care, stabilize medical liability insurance premiums and ensure patients' rights to their day in court. "Common-sense medical liability reforms work," Dr. Palmisano said. "Polls show that about 73 percent of Americans support medical liability reforms that include a cap on non-economic damages, the subjective award for pain and suffering." "America's lawsuit culture is out of control, and only Congress can stop the crisis," Dr. Palmisano said. "The average obstetrician is sued 2 to 3 times in a career and 50 percent of neurosurgeons are sued every year. Because of our runaway lawsuit culture, one in seven obstetricians no longer delivers babies." "The only real winners in our broken liability system are personal injury lawyers," Dr. Palmisano said. "Patients receive only a fraction of the jury award, while the lawyers take one-third to one-half of the patient's entire monetary award – including 33 to 50 percent of the monetary award for the injured patient's medical expenses." "Fear of lawsuits coupled with skyrocketing liability premiums have forced some physicians to stop performing high risk procedures or simply retire from the practice of medicine," Dr. Palmisano said. "This is a tragedy not just for the medical community, but for our patients who cannot find a doctor in their time of need." The AMA thanks Chairman Manzullo for holding this important hearing on the medical liability crisis. ### For additional information, please contact:
Katherine M. Hatwell Last updated: Feb 17, 2005 -—------------------
Oral Statement of the American Medical Association to the Committee on Small Business U.S. House of Representatives
RE: Medical Liability Reform: Stopping the Skyrocketing Price of Health Care
Presented by: Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD
February 17, 2005
Good morning.
I want to thank Chairman Manzullo and Ranking Member Velázquez for holding this hearing to focus on how our broken medical liability system affects patient access to quality health care.
My testimony is on behalf of the American Medical Association, which sets policy through a democratic process in its House of Delegates comprised of physicians representing every state, over 100 national medical specialty societies, federal service agencies, as well as medical students.
The AMA’s policy on how to fix the broken medical liability system is detailed in our written statement.My testimony today is not only from the perspective of a medical professional, but that of a small business.
In fact, approximately 75 percent of practice-based physicians work in or own small practices of less than 9 physicians.
Medical liability insurance premiums are part of our overhead expenses, and when expenses increase, physicians must either raise revenue by increasing fees or cut other expenses to sustain their practices.
Increasing fees is becoming more challenging as Medicare, Medicaid, and managed health care plans limit payments for services rendered to patients.
Alternatively, to trim expenses physicians face the difficult choice of cutting staff, forgoing new medical equipment, or limiting certain aspects of their practice.
The litigious climate in our country also is taking its toll, such as decreasing the availability of physicians who provide obstetrical care.
When I took part in a physician rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with more than 500 physicians and patients demanding action on the liability crisis, I met a young obstetrician, Dr. Khadra Osmon.
She stood hand-in-hand with her pregnant patient and told the crowd, "Helping a woman deliver her baby is the most extraordinary experience a doctor can have. And I won't be doing that anymore."
Her liability premiums had tripled.
She had no choice but to give up the part of her practice she treasured most.
It's a loss beyond calculation—for her and her patients.
Anytime vital health care services are limited, patients’ access to care is jeopardized—especially emergency care.
In 2003, 17-year old John Lucas from Greenwood, Mississippi, was in an auto accident.
John suffered a serious head injury and was taken to Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville, which has a Level II trauma center.
Tragically, that day Greenville’s only remaining neurosurgeon was not available. John had to be airlifted to University Medical Center in Jackson, but by the time he arrived it was too late.
He never regained consciousness and died six weeks later.
For 25 years, Greenville had 24-hour neurosurgery coverage, but the medical liability crisis in Mississippi ended that.
One of the two neurosurgeons in Greenville no longer practiced neurosurgery because of the legal climate and cost of liability insurance.
John’s father, himself a trauma surgeon, said his son "picked the wrong day to have his accident. The bleed inside [his] head had doubled by the time he received care."
There is also the story of Leanne Dyess from Vicksburg, Mississippi, who testified before the House Judiciary Committee about a very personal, very tragic consequence of the liability crisis.
Her husband, Tony, was in an auto accident and suffered a head injury that resulted in permanent brain damage because there no longer was a neurosurgeon at the hospital as he had left the state because of the liability crisis.
These are just a few of the hundreds of stories I have heard as I talk to physicians and patients across the country.
They represent the symptoms that tell us our nation is facing a crisis because of a broken medical liability system.
Escalating jury awards and the high cost of defending against lawsuits—even meritless claims—are the primary drivers of increasing medical liability insurance premiums.
This crisis exacts a steep cost—in terms of access to care for patients, stress on physicians, and strain on the entire health care system.
Mr. Chairman, the AMA looks forward to working with Congress to pass common sense medical liability reforms this year so that patients have greater access to medical care.
Thank you.
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