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National Studies & Reports

1. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): “The excesses of the litigation system raise the cost of health care for everyone, threaten Americans’ access to care, and impede efforts to improve the quality of care.” “Addressing the New Health Crisis: Reforming the Medical Litigation System to Improve the quality of Health Care,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 3, 2003.
   
   
2. “The Department of Health and Human Services found that “States with caps on non-economic damages experienced about 12 percent more physicians than States without caps.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “The Impact of State Laws Limiting Malpractice Awards on the Geographic Distribution of Physicians” by Fred J. Hellinger, Ph.D. and William E. Encinosa, Ph.D., July 3, 2003.
   
   
3. “Nearly eight out of ten (79 percent) said they had ordered more tests than medically necessary”. Harris Interactive/Common Good, “Fear of Litigation Study: The Impact on Medicine,” March 2002.
   
   
4. “Three out of four doctors (76 percent) said fear of litigation has hurt their ability to provide quality care.” Harris Interactive/Common Good, “Fear of Litigation Study: The Impact on Medicine,” March 2002.
   
   
5. “According to a 2005 study, California’s reforms have lowered insurance costs, decreased the practice of defensive medicine, and improved access to high quality care without reducing access to the legal system for individuals with liability claims.” William G. Hamm, Ph.D., C. Paul Wazzan, Ph.D., and H.E. Frech III, Ph.D., “MICRA and Access to Healthcare,” February 2005.
   
   
6. In Texas, “As reported in the Wall Street Journal, “In some parts of the state, there are 300 lawsuits for every 100 doctors. No matter that 85% of these suits fail; at $20,000-$40,000 a pop to put up a defense, doctors can’t afford the sky-high insurance rates. Thank the trail lawyers.” The Wall Street Journal, “Ten-Gallon Tort Reform,” June 6, 2003.
   
   
7. “In just two examples of the resurgence happening throughout the state, the number of physicians in Harris County (the state’s most populous county) has grown by 762, and Austin has added three more neurosurgeons, while many neurosurgeons are taking emergency calls and expanding their treatment of “high-risk” cases.” Texas Alliance for Patient Access, http://www.tapa.info/
   
   
8. “Hundreds of emergency rooms have been forced to close their doors, at least temporarily, over the past decade. Patients in Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia have all suffered emergency room closings.” American College of Emergency Room Physicians; cited in “Federal Medical Liability Reform,” Alliance of Specialty Medicine, July 2005
   
   
9. In Mississippi, “A Mississippi auto accident left John Lucas, IV with serious head trauma and in need of immediate attention. But every local neurosurgeon had either left the area or stopped treating trauma cases due to medical liability risks. John’s father, Dr. John Lucas, III, got his son transferred to a hospital with a neurologist on call, but John died before he could be treated.” American Medical Association, “Medical Liability Reform – NOW!,” October 19, 2005
   
   
10. In Fayette County, Pennsylvania, “three OB-GYNs who delivered half of the babies in the area stopped providing OB services after learning it would cost them an additional $300,000 in medical liability premiums.” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 30, 2002; cited in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Addressing the New Health Crisis: Reforming the Medical Litigation System to Improve the Quality of Health Care,” March 3, 2003.