Doctors waiting until next year for tort changes

“Our discussions are an uphill battle to explain there’s a crisis in the making. Hopefully they will come around next year,” said Russ Miller, a spokesman for the Tennessee Medical Association.

The association represents about 6,400 doctors.

He said capping jury awards was the association’s top legislative priority this year.

The chairman of a tort reform study panel, Rep. Rob Briley, D-Nashville, said about 40 bills relating to malpractice were introduced this year. He expects fewer than five to be passed.

“The experts have told us to be deliberate, be cautious, be slow,” Briley said. “Make minor changes, and give those changes opportunity to work.”

Doctors contend that caps on verdicts would help control malpractice insurance premiums. They say big verdicts in malpractice cases could drive medical professionals from the state.

Miller said there is evidence that some physicians are retiring because of rising premiums.

“The people of Tennessee are going to be sorely inconvenienced,” he said. “There’s going to be a loss of hundreds of physicians in the state, if not thousands.”

To the contrary, state records show the number of doctors practicing in Tennessee has increased over the past five years.

Between 1999 and 2003, the number of licensed, practicing physicians in the state rose by 4 percent, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association director Suzanne Keith said doctors in the state don’t face sky-high jury awards.

In 2000, the average jury award was $114,220 and in 2001 was $209,284, according to the medical association.

“Obviously they aren’t leaving here,” Keith said. “There have been some states that were in much worse troubles than we were about large verdicts. I do think with time, as the insurance industry recovers, it won’t be such a pressing issue.”

Briley’s committee will present its final report Wednesday. He said the recommendations include collecting more data on settlements and jury awards.

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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com