The Des Moines Register recently had another excellent
editorial found here that
again disputes the myth that medical malpractice cases in Iowa are somehow
deterring physicians from practicing in Iowa. As firm of Iowa Medical Malpractice Attorneys, we adamantly oppose any
pending proposals to cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits,
as these proposals only serve to cause further hardship to injured Iowans and
will not create any tangible benefit regarding physician availability or care.
Iowa Medical Malpractice Attorneys
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
The Injustice of Artificial Caps in Jury Verdicts
The Des Moines Register ran a great editorial on May
18, 2013 that looked at jury verdict caps in light of the Henry’s Turkey
Service case. In the editorial, the Register noted that the Congressionally mandated statutory caps in federal EEOC cases reduced the compensatory and
punitive damages awarded to each plaintiff in the case from $7.5 million to
$50,000. Given the evidence presented at the trial, this reduction was unjust. The
Register makes a great point that these verdict caps undercut the inherent
wisdom of juries and undermines the crucial deterrent effect that punitive
damages create. If the Iowa state
legislature again wants to consider verdict caps in medical malpractice cases they need only look to the Henry’s Turkey Service case to see the
injustice created by this “one size fits all” approach to our civil justice
system.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Des Moines Register Editorial: “Iowa doesn’t have a malpractice crisis”
This editorial from the Des Moines Register last week
was spot on and clearly and concisely rebutted the arguments that Iowa, in
medical malpractice cases, should impose caps on non-economic damages and
should require a medical expert to screen cases before they can move forward in
court. Perhaps most convincing was the Register’s citation of a 2010 study
where the University of Iowa interviewed 220 physicians who had left the state
of Iowa. Only one physician said that professional liability was an issue in deciding
to relocate, as many physicians indicated that they left Iowa because they
wanted to earn more money.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Des Moines Register Article: “Claims about medical malpractice lawsuits rejected: Liability researcher says legal, insurance costs don’t explain Iowa’s difficulty in recruiting doctors.”
Here’s a
link to an informative article from the Des Moines Register that
makes many of the points I made in my previous blog post. The
article, written by Tony Leys, discusses Iowa’s recent proposed medical
malpractice reforms with Mike Matray, editor of the trade journal Medical
Liability Monitor. Matray notes that attempts to argue that Iowa’s medical
malpractice climate is the reason for Iowa’s difficulty in recruiting
physicians “doesn’t stack up with the reality of the situation” and goes on to explain
that malpractice insurance premiums in Iowa are some of the lowest in the
country.
At Hayes Lorenzen Lawyers we encourage readers of this blog to contact their
state legislators and voice their
opposition to House Study Bill 36 and Senate Study Bill 1054, which would
impose caps on non-economic damages and require a “certificate of merit” system
in medical malpractices cases in Iowa.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Things You Need to Know about Iowa’s Proposed Medical Malpractice Reforms
Iowa was in the news recently with proposals that it adopt a
“certificate of merit” system and that it cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Under a “certificate of merit” system, a medical expert
would have to review a potential medical malpractice case to determine whether
the plaintiff’s injuries were caused by the negligent care of a healthcare
provider. The verdict cap would limit non-economic damages,
which are often crucial to ensuring plaintiffs get a just recovery.
The stated purpose of these proposed reforms is to help Iowa
attract additional physicians. Under this logic, “frivolous lawsuits are harming our ability to recruit and retain doctors.”
This is simply incorrect. To begin with, much of Iowa’s
physician shortage is really a byproduct of the fact that Iowa is a rural state
with few major population centers. Efforts to make it more difficult to bring
meritorious medical malpractice cases to trial will not change the reality that
it’s hard to encourage physicians to practice in rural areas far away from
major population centers.
These proposals also fail to recognize that Iowa is already
a challenging environment for plaintiffs who bring medical malpractice litigation.
In Iowa, the statutory 180 day expert witness disclosure rule, along with the
reality of how costly it is for a plaintiff to successfully litigate a medical
malpractice case, means most plaintiff’s attorneys usually have a case reviewed
by an expert witness prior to filing. This allows plaintiff’s attorneys to
avoid filing cases that are unlikely to result in a satisfactory recovery for
the plaintiff. As such, common practice already results in an informal
“certificate of merit” approach anyway.
In fact, this environment not only discourages the filing of
“frivolous” cases, but also many meritorious claims where the costs of
litigation discourage filing claims. The end result of these circumstances can
be seen in the significant decline
in the number of medical malpractice cases filed in Iowa in the past decade,
where 335 cases were filed in 2002 and only 187 in 2011.
These proposals also don’t take into account that such
reforms simply don’t achieve their states goals. As Brad Lint, executive
director of the Iowa Association for Justice noted, the “certificate of merit
proposal would drive up litigation costs for plaintiffs and defendants alike,
and make it much more difficult for seriously injured patients to pursue their
claims in court.” Lint went on to note that in states that have enacted verdict
caps, “Health insurance premiums didn’t go down, doctors didn’t save money on
their liability insurance, but insurance company profits shot through the
roof.”
Given these factors, at Hayes Lorenzen Lawyers we feel that these
proposals should be a non-starter with the state legislature. We also concur
with the Quad City Times that such proposals “would be legislative overreach.Iowa has not experienced runaway medical malpractice judgments. We’re much more comfortable with laws that leave judicial matters to jurors and judges who hear facts unique to each case, rather than having legislators make up an arbitrary cap.”
In the coming weeks and months this blog will provide
additional posts that hopefully will add some clarity and context to the debate
about the prior-mentioned reforms.
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