Pa. Doctors Plan Rallies Over Insurance Rates

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, April 21, 4:06 p.m.EDT?More than 10,000 Pennsylvania doctors are expected toparticipate in next week's protest rallies to address their concernfor soaring medical malpractice insurance costs, according to oneof the organizers of the event.

"We will have protest rallies in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh andPhiladelphia next Monday, and we will have more rallies until ourdemands are met," said Dr. James Tayoun, president ofPhiladelphia-based Politically Active Physicians Association, oneof the organizers of the rallies. "We expect more than 10,000, andas many as 15,000 doctors to participate."

Dr. Tayoun said the main demands from doctors in his stateinclude setting caps on non-economic damages at $250,000, as wellas setting limits on contingency fees for lawyers involved inmedical malpractice cases.

"We would like to see limits on how much attorneys can take," hesaid, explaining that lawyers' contingency fees can take away30-to-40 percent of jury awards in addition to charges for thelawsuit costs.

The group said many doctors planning to participate in nextweek's events have cancelled their non-elective surgeries, officevisits and other routine care scheduled during the protest. But thegroup promised that physicians would not leave emergency patientsat risk and that emergency rooms would remain open, with doctors oncall.

Tonight, some physicians planning to participate in rallies willattend meetings to discuss final details and learn more aboutmanaging their offices and handling the media, the group said.

Dr. Tayoun said Pennsylvania has been designated a "code blue"state by the American Medical Association in terms of its medicalliability insurance crisis and that patients in his state havealready lost 1,100 physicians due to rising medical malpracticeinsurance costs.

"We need to stop the hemorrhaging before one more physician isforced out of business," he said.