Docs Skip Work to Protest Insurance Costs

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Docs Skip Work to Protest Insurance Costs

By JILL BARTON, Associated Press Writer

 

 

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Hospitals in the Palm Beach County area

added to their emergency room staffs and rescheduled elective

surgeries as hundreds of doctors protested rising malpractice

insurance costs by staying off the job.

 

 

More than 800 Florida doctors stayed away from work in protest

Monday, as did a dozen doctors in Mississippi.

 

 

Organizers of the protest in Florida said the doctors were staying

off the job to attend a two-day conference looking at the problem of

insurance costs. No immediate problems were reported at hospitals in

their absence.

 

 

" We want the patients to understand that there's a major crisis and

something has to be done soon, " said Dr. Stephen Babic, a Delray

Beach cardiologist.

 

 

Complaints about higher insurance rates, driven in part by big jury

awards for malpractice, are being heard from doctors around the

country. About two dozen surgeons walked off the job in West

Virginia earlier this month, and doctors in New Jersey are

considering a similar protest in February.

 

 

A task force appointed by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush recently voted to

recommend that jury awards for punitive damages and pain-and-

suffering awards in medical malpractice cases be capped at $250,000.

 

 

" The quality of care for Floridians will be diminished if we don't

deal with medical malpractice reform. In the long run, that's the

issue, " Bush said Monday.

 

 

Dr. Robert Cline, president of the Florida Medical Association, said

that 130 patients received malpractice awards worth more than $1

million last year.

 

 

" So we're jeopardizing care for 16 million people in the state of

Florida because of these 130 claims? " Cline said. " We're approaching

Third World medicine where people are traveling 100 miles to get

specialized care. "

 

 

Since 1975, rates for professional liability insurance have

increased fivefold across the nation. In comparison, rates for

doctors in California, where reforms were passed in 1975, rose only

167 percent during the same period, Cline said.

 

 

Victims of medical malpractice, however, say the industry cannot put

a cap on the value of someone's health or life.

 

 

Wayne Portch, 56, said he lost both legs below the knee and parts of

four fingers after two doctors failed to diagnose an infection over

four days. He and his wife said they are looking for accountability.

 

 

" We know a lot of good doctors. This isn't about the good doctors.

This is about the bad doctors, " Paula Portch said. " Our whole life

has changed. Should this be allowed to go on? "

 

 

Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., said patients will continue to suffer if

more doctors are forced to leave the state or retire early because

high insurance rates make it impossible to continue their practices.

Foley said he plans to push a House bill that would limit

malpractice costs to doctors and cap some awards.

 

 

Also Monday, a dozen surgeons took leaves of absence from four Gulf

Coast hospitals in Mississippi.

 

 

Harrison and Hancock counties and the city of Gulfport declared a

state of emergency, clearing the way for ambulances to take patients

to hospitals in neighboring Louisiana or Alabama.

 

 

At least five patients were redirected to other hospitals, said

Chris Cirillo, director of operations for American Medical Response

ambulance service.