NU Online News Service, May 10, 4:24 p.m. EDT–A study of medical malpractice in Illinois conducted by a Duke University law professor finds that the tort system is not the cause for dramatic increases in doctors' malpractice insurance premiums.
Professor Neil Vidmar was commissioned by the Illinois State Bar Association to analyze all available data to determine whether medical malpractice claims and jury awards had increased in recent years. The study looked especially at cases in Cook, DuPage, Madison and St. Clair counties, and covered the period 1992-2005.
"The Illinois tort system does not appear to be the cause of the undisputed fact that doctors' liability insurance premiums showed dramatic rises," Mr. Vidmar concluded in his report, adding, "It is time to consider other causes."
According to his study, Cook and Dupage counties' data show no upward trends in medical malpractice claims filings or in filings per 100 treating physicians from 1994 through 2004, when adjusted for population growth.
"There has been no increase in jury trials or in plaintiff win-rates between 2001 and 2004," the study reported.
The study also analyzed claims that doctors are leaving the state, or certain areas of the state, as a result of jury awards. It found a steady increase in the absolute number of total patient care physicians in Illinois, from 25,514 in 1993 to 30,264 in 2003, the latest year for which American Medical Association figures are available.
With some year-to-year variations, an upward or steady trend was found for Ob/Gyn specialists and neurological surgeons, two practice areas experiencing steep premium increases. The study also says American Medical Association statistics through 2003, the latest year available, do not support claims of loss of doctors in Madison and St. Clair counties.
Madison and St. Clair counties are venues that the American Tort Reform Association has labeled "judicial hellholes" that harm the civil litigation process by providing excessive verdict awards.
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