Poll: Many Blame Lawyers For Med-Mal Rates

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, May 19, 3:49 p.m. EDT?An online survey by a rating agency found that nearly half of the respondents blame lawyers for the surge in medical malpractice insurance rates.

The poll, which was conducted on the Weiss Ratings Inc. Web site, drew 1,340 participants. It found that some 48 percent of the respondents picked lawyers, when asked the question, "Who do you feel is primarily at fault for today's surging medical malpractice rates?"

The court system and juries came in second in the survey, with some 20 percent choosing it as the primary reason for soaring medical malpractice costs. Only 12.5 percent picked insurance companies, while 11.5 percent chose doctors or hospitals that may have made mistakes. Less than five percent of the survey respondents blamed medical patients who were bringing legal actions.

But David Lackey, president of Weiss Ratings in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., feels that attorneys, all the lawyer jokes aside, make an unfair target this time around.

"Lawyers are always easy targets, especially when capping large jury awards has been publicly singled out as the key to lowering medical malpractice premiums," said Mr. Lackey. He argued that while a disincentive to lawyers in the form of award caps may be warranted, "I don't think it's going to be the panacea everyone is looking for."

The survey was conducted for two months, from March 14 to May 15. And although Weiss Ratings did not measure the demographics of survey respondents, Melissa Gannon, vice president at the ratings firm, offered general characteristics of people who typically log onto Weiss Web site.

"Most people who visit our Web site are either investors who are seeking information on stocks that we rate, or they are purchasers of insurance. Or they are dealing with banks and want to make sure they are sound institutions," Ms. Gannon told National Underwriter. "They are educated, high-income consumers," she said.

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Poll: Many Blame Lawyers For Med-Mal Rates

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