Increased Malpractice Rates Hurt Pennsylvania Doctors, Patients, Op-Ed Says

"Skyrocketing medical malpractice premiums" have prompted many physicians practicing in Pennsylvania to leave the state or retire early, Dr. Bruce Vanett, president of the Pennsylvania Orthopedic Society, writes in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Vanett notes that a Pennsylvania orthopedic surgeon "in the highest-rated region of Pennsylvania" who has no claims history pays an annual premium of about $96,199 for malpractice insurance, compared with rates of $37,000 or less for doctors in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. About 80% of orthopedic surgeons surveyed in April said that the "malpractice premium crisis" has made them want to leave Pennsylvania. In addition, Vanett says that nearly 13% of the state's obstetricians have ceased delivering babies because they are unable to afford liability insurance. Southeastern Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems said their malpractice premiums will increase 20% to 50% by July 1. Malpractice insurance rates have increased because juries have granted multimillion dollar awards in malpractice cases, Vanett says. As a result of increased malpractice insurance rates, doctors have "changed the way they practice and are moving toward 'defensive medicine,'" Vanett says. In this "war" of escalating costs, "patients become the ultimate casualties," Vanett writes. He advocates that the state enact tort reform, which could include limiting punitive damages, increasing standards for expert witnesses, allowing periodic award payments and permitting disclosure of other recovered awards. Tort reform should be the "top priority" of the General Assembly and state Supreme Court, Vanett maintains, stating, "Too much is at stake to ignore the problem" (Vanett, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/5).