Malpractice suits fall in Pa., easing insurance crisis

Citing new statistics that show a 41 percent decline in medical malpractice lawsuits statewide since early in the decade, Gov. Rendell said yesterday that efforts to address Pennsylvania's malpractice insurance crisis had curbed the rise in premiums for doctors and given patients better access to care.

He said a report released last week by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts demonstrated that new laws and judicial rule changes since 2002 had improved the health-care climate in the state.

"The results have been extraordinarily impressive in abating the malpractice insurance crisis," Rendell said at a news conference. He also said the decline had helped retain doctors and attract malpractice insurance providers.

Because of the success, he said, he will not seek to renew the state-funded insurance subsidy program for doctors, known as MCARE.

The report by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts showed that 1,602 malpractice lawsuits were filed in 2008. In Philadelphia, which had the highest caseload, there was a 54 percent decrease in filings. Rendell said claims had dropped to $174 million, a 50 percent decrease since 2003.

The results were a sharp turnaround from nearly a decade ago, when insurance rates for doctors in Pennsylvania were skyrocketing, particularly for specialists such as obstetricians and neurosurgeons. Doctors protested that the high premiums were driving them out of business and limiting patients' access to care.

Rendell said other indications that the crisis had abated included the fact that insurance premiums for doctors have decreased or remained the same during the last three years and the increase in companies offering malpractice insurance in Pennsylvania - from three in 2002 to 57 today.

The only county with an increase in cases was Montgomery County, which had 283 percent more last year than in 2001. An official with the state's trial lawyers group attributed the spike solely to the new venue restrictions, which require attorneys to file where the incident took place. Historically, lawyers would "shop" cases, most often to Philadelphia, where juries tended to award larger damages.

Attorneys also must obtain a certificate of merit from a medical professional that established the case fell below medical standards before bringing lawsuits to court.

Mark Phenicie, legislative counsel for the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, which represents trial lawyers, said his members were satisfied with the changes because there were no longer calls for caps on damages – something that some lawmakers had called for to rein in awards.

"The report shows with absolutely no spin that medical malpractice is certainly stabilized," Phenicie said. "But the most egregious cases can still be tried or settled."

Daniel Glunk, president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, said that while the claim numbers were encouraging, doctors remained concerned that the size of individual awards had not experienced the same decline. As far as medical malpractice insurance rates, Glunk said, Pennsylvania is still among the costliest in the country.

On other topics at the news conference, Rendell announced his support for a proposal to give governors the power to select all members of the state Gaming Control Board. Now the governor appoints three members while the four others are picked by Democratic and Republican leaders the House and Senate.

The unusual setup requires that all of the legislative members and at least one gubernatorial appointee agree on a matter, including a license application, for it to pass. Rendell called that "an incredibly bad structure that lends itself to, let's say, legal extortion on the part of any member of the gaming commission."

Giving governors complete appointment power, with advice and consent of the Senate, was among the recommendations made last week by Dauphin County District Attorney Edward Marsico when he dropped perjury charges against Louis DeNaples, owner of the Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos.

Rendell said he supported each of Marsico's recommendations, including one that calls for the state police or Attorney General's Office to investigate gaming applicants instead of the gaming board's agents, which is currently the case.

Told of the governor's remarks, Marsico said he was pleased. "His leadership on the issue will be crucial," Marsico added.