Malpractice

tammyb@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - It ain't over 'til it's over. Three weeks after the Maryland General Assembly overrode Gov. Robert Ehrlich's veto of a medical malpractice reform bill, 14 more malpractice bills already have been filed in the House of Delegates, and two have been filed in the Senate. And more are planned. Of the House bills, fully half have been co-sponsored by Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington. These bills would: · Provide "Good Samaritan" protection from civil liability for health-care workers providing care under certain emergency circumstances · Prohibit an apology or expression of regret by a health care worker in certain circumstances from being used as evidence of an admission of liability · Restrict the division of lawyers' fees in malpractice cases · Require malpractice awards to be itemized · Require a certificate of qualification for expert witnesses · Establish a task force on compensation for certain birth-related injuries · Require structured payments of damages under specified circumstances.

It's a lot better than a band-aid, but few expect the West Virginia medical malpractice bill which takes effect today to be the complete answer to the state's problems. But despite that, it's a big step forward. The need for change became apparent last year when a number of insurers stopped writing malpractice coverage in West Virginia, in part because the cap on pain-and-suffering awards was $1 million. Without insurance policies, doctors had two choices - treat patients without them and risk personal bankruptcy if a claim were filed - or leave the state.

Dr. Karl Riggle says he's wanted to be a physician ever since he took first aid as a Boy Scout. But the 47-year-old Hagerstown surgeon now finds himself in the unfamiliar realm of politics, as one of the leaders of a local group pushing for changes in the Maryland law governing malpractice insurance. Riggle and other physicians had earlier threatened to stop doing everything but emergency procedures as of Nov. 15 to protest the state's malpractice laws. They believed those laws, or lack of same, forced the state to grant Medical Mutual, the physician-run insurance company that covers most of the state's doctors, a 33 percent increase, on average, in its rates.

ANNAPOLIS The prognosis was poor for reforming Maryland's medical malpractice laws this year, and this week the House Judiciary Committee removed any form of life support from two of three bills sponsored by Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, to improve the state's malpractice condition. One of the bills would have imposed criteria for expert witnesses in malpractice cases and sanctions for frivolous suits. The other would have set up special courts for malpractice suits.

Last winter more than 3,000 Maryland physicians traveled to Annapolis to try to impress upon the Maryland General Assembly the need to enact malpractice reform. Gov. Robert Ehrlich proposed a relatively weak package of reforms that never had a chance of passage because Senate President Mike Miller, who coincidentally is a malpractice attorney, bottled the bill up in committee and it was never even brought to a vote by the entire senate. Talk about letting the fox run the henhouse - a malpractice attorney deciding whether or not Maryland should be able to reform its medical malpractice system.

tammyb@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - The General Assembly's leadership insisted last year they had provided the antidote for a medical community sick of mounting malpractice insurance premiums and demanding a cure. Physicians, on the other hand, have complained ever since that lawmakers had merely stuck a bandage on the issue, leaving the infection to fester. Many blamed party politics. Nevertheless, both the Senate and the House were faced with striking a balance between the physicians' concerns and the often emotional testimony of victims of some medical misadventure.

tammyb@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - If legislators thought they had settled Maryland's medical malpractice crisis in January, the flock of physicians testifying before a Senate committee Wednesday left little doubt that they had not. Testifying in favor of a bill to further reform Maryland's medical malpractice liability laws, most said they were grateful that the General Assembly approved the Maryland Patients' Access to Quality Health...

It's an election year, so few political observers expected the Maryland General Assembly to take on anything controversial during this session. But if the legislature wants anybody to take seriously its claim to truly care about the public welfare, it must - at the very least - agree to a serious study and debate on medical malpractice issues in 2007. Without some action, Washington County will eventually have fewer medical professionals serving its citizens, who will be forced to travel to the metropolitan areas for their care.

tammyb@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - The House of Delegates approved legislation Wednesday evening to implement the medical malpractice law approved in January, opening the door to reimbursements for physicians stung by mounting costs for malpractice insurance. The bill originated in the Senate, where it was approved on March 14. Technical issues with the law as passed in January had delayed its going into effect. The law, designed to provide emergency relief to physicians threatening to cut back their practices or stop practicing altogether, established a stop-gap fund to subsidize their malpractice premiums.

tammyb@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Gov. Robert Ehrlich renewed talks this week with General Assembly leaders, seeking solutions to the state's medical malpractice insurance crisis. Ehrlich already had met with House Speaker Michael Busch, and planned to meet with Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller today to try to hammer out an agreement. Some local physicians say they can't support some of the steps being discussed. A point of contention is the funding source for a proposed stop-loss fund that would subsidize malpractice insurance premiums.