Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR) announced last week the release of
a study that examines current insurance industry data to determine what caused the most recent medical malpractice insurance crisis for doctors. The study by AIR, a coalition of over 100 consumer and public interest groups representing more than 50 million people, finds that the insurance crisis that hit doctors between 2001 and 2004 was not caused by claims, payouts or legal system excesses as the insurance industry claimed.
Lawyers who represent victims of medical negligence are not the cause of escalating malpractice premiums. Doctors and hospitals purchase insurance to provide a remedy for those patients who become seriously injured as the result of predictable negligence. Predictable because doctors are human and mistakes will always be made. The insurance industry is the BAD GUY…don’t blame the lawyers!