Local doctors blast Rendell malpractice reform proposal
Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposal to help resolve the medical malpractice insurance issue will not solve the problem, according to two local doctors, because it doesn’t put limits on lawsuit damages. However, one attorney involved in the issue said he favors the proposal because it doesn’t impose caps on lawsuits.
“My initial impression is that with no caps on settlements, he is not addressing one of the most important features of the problem,” said Dr. Lawrence J. Glad. Late last year, Glad and two other OB/GYNs in his practice stopped delivering babies, claiming they were forced to do so by skyrocketing increases in medical malpractice insurance premiums.
Rendell’s plan calls for increasing state payments to obstetricians for deliveries, providing additional money to the state’s trauma centers, reducing insurance fees for doctors in high-risk specialties, limiting how much attorneys receive in a winning malpractice case and giving judges the power to reduce multimillion-dollar jury verdicts that they believe are unjustified.
Glad also pointed out that Rendell promised $220 million at the first of the year to doctors, and none of that money has been given out yet. Instead, he said, the payment has been delayed until July 1.
“We’re hearing a lot of promises but not seeing anything,” he said.
Rendell also said that he doesn’t know how to pay for his new plan.
Under the proposal, doctors in the four specialties that pay the highest malpractice insurance rates – surgeons, obstetricians, orthopedic surgeons and brain surgeons – would receive a full abatement on their MCare premiums and a 50 percent abatement to other doctors. MCare, which stands for Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error, is a state fund that helps pay large verdicts whose costs exceed a doctor’s malpractice insurance coverage.
Glad said Rendell’s MCare issue doesn’t really help other types of doctors, since they still have to pay a portion of the premium.
“We need to look at the problem as a whole,” Glad said.
Glad also took issue with giving judges a right to reduce settlements.
“Saying it’s OK for large settlements to be awarded and then giving judges a right to reduce them doesn’t make sense,” he said. “I think he’s skirting the issue by trying to make everyone happy.”
“Things are getting worse in Pennsylvania medicine, and they’re not going to get better anytime soon,” Glad added.
He also mentioned an incident in which Rendell criticized orthopedist Dr. Owen Nelson last month at a town meeting in Uniontown. Glad said it showed that Rendell didn’t want to listen to doctors about the issue when he “verbally attacked Dr. Owen Nelson, who had performed four surgeries on his first day of vacation.”
The incident occurred May 22 at the VFW in Uniontown when Nelson advised Rendell not to fall and break his arm, because a doctor wasn’t available, and Rendell became upset and chastised doctors for going on strike.
When contacted Wednesday, Nelson was even more critical of the plan than Glad was.
“I think it’s a cowardly and shortsighted plan,” he said. “He knows what the problem is: We need solutions that bring costs down.”
Last year, two other doctors in Nelson’s practice left the state due to increased medical malpractice insurance premiums.
Nelson said Rendell received political contributions from the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, and he doesn’t have the courage to do what’s right.
“The governor’s plan will not fix anything. I can’t imagine the General Assembly will approve a plan where they don’t know where the money is coming from, but I can guess that it’s going to come from a new tax.”
Nelson said that until the governor stands up and says that he won’t let citizens be subjected to the pain and suffering of losing medical care, a solution will not arise. “The governor is a coward because he won’t stand up and do what’s right,” Nelson said.
John Gismondi, a Uniontown native and chairman of the medical malpractice section of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, was slightly more receptive to Rendell’s plan.
“I applaud the fact that he didn’t come out in favor of caps,” Gismondi said. “The problem is where the state will get $600 million to fund it and should the state be in the business of a bailout.”
Gismondi said putting caps on attorney fees is Rendell’s prerogative, but the provision is “certainly not going to help doctors and may hurt people in getting attorneys.” He said the source of doctors’ problems is that the insurance companies must make up for money lost due to mismanagement; however, he said a cap on settlements is not the answer, because it restricts patients’ rights.
“If a patient doesn’t have a legitimate claim, they shouldn’t receive a cent. But if they have a legitimate claim, the doctor should pay for all the harm they caused,” Gismondi said. “One size fits all isn’t fair.”
Regarding fairness, Gismondi also expressed displeasure regarding a letter that Nelson sends out to attorneys requesting dispositions in which he requests a $1,000 per page fee. That fee is reduced to $25 per page if an $800 donation is made to the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society Political Action Committee.
“I think it’s unfortunate that he is jeopardizing patients who are getting claims processed just to extract a political contribution,” Gismondi said, adding that the practice is highly inappropriate.
“That’s not the way a professional should be behaving with respect to patients,” he said.
Nelson said the legal profession has annihilated his business, and if a lawyer wants him to be involved with their business, “they need to take some responsibility.”
He said he stays as far away from legal action as he can and is a very reluctant witness. Nelson said there is no law against what he is doing, and he has encouraged other doctors to do the same thing.
“If an attorney wants a deposition or letter, that’s my fee. If they don’t way to pay a fee, they can subpoena me,” he said. “Dispositions take time away from my profession.”
He said lawyers talk about pain and suffering all the time.
“What about the pain and suffering of a kid with a broken arm who can’t get treated or the pain and suffering of a pregnant woman who can’t get prenatal care?” Nelson asked. “Attorneys don’t care if there’s not money attached to it.”