Virginia Medical Malpractice Crisis?

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In an opinion piece from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, a closer look is taken at the Medical Malpractice "crisis" affecting Virginia and 19 other states. As usual, high med-mal insurance premiums are being blamed on "frivolous" lawsuits, but a closer look at the facts reveals that this simply isn't true.

A few of the more interesting points from the column:

In the Old Dominion, figures show, malpractice is a tough sell. Three out of four cases in that period produced no payout whatsoever. Five out of six juries found for the doctor or hospital. And mega-awards, those of $1 million or more, are rare. The system, viewed from the award-payout angle, isn't broke...

A typical family doctor's rates tripled between 1997 and 2005, while already-steep premiums for an ob/gyn more than doubled. The latter now pay around $50,000 a year for malpractice insurance...but in the three years covered by the current report (2002-2005), both the number of claims and the total amount paid out have remained level.

A study by Americans for Insurance Reform found that, in Virginia over the last 30 years, "the astronomical premium increases that some doctors have been charged during periodic insurance 'crises' over this time period are in exact sync with the economic cycle of the insurance industry, driven by interest rates and investments. In other words, insurance companies raise rates to make up for declining interest rates and market-based investment losses."