High Malpractice Rates in West Virginia Lead Medical Residents Out of State

Hospital officials in West Virginia are concerned that rising medical malpractice rates could "scare away medical students from the state's residency programs," potentially decreasing patients' access to care, the Charleston Gazette reports (Davia, Charleston Gazette, 12/14). Physicians' premiums for malpractice insurance in West Virginia are soaring and the number of insurers providing coverage is declining, leading many doctors and medical practices to exit the state (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/16). The situation also extends to medical students. At Charleston Area Medical Center, for example, between 11% and 41% fewer fourth-year medical students have applied for the hospital's residency programs this year than in the past, and there may not be enough students to fill next year's residency slots, Sharon Hall, president of the CAMC Health Education and Research Institute, said. Some OB/GYNs have stopped taking new patients, and others have stopped performing procedures that could increase their malpractice liability. "From a student's point of view, that's not good," Eric Adkins, a fourth-year student at West Virginia University's School of Medicine, said (Charleston Gazette, 12/14).