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| ASSEMBLY EDITION • ORLANDO, FLA |
The Academy will focus its tort reform efforts on advocacy for injured patients in the next year as a result of a resolution the Congress of Delegates approved Tuesday.
The resolution instructs the Academy - through its commissions and committees and its leadership role in AMA - to develop strategies for securing passage of state constitutional amendments that maximize the percentage of medical liability awards to plaintiffs (by limiting attorney fees).
"Let's not talk about limiting attorney fees," said Florida delegate Tom Hicks, M.D., of Tallahassee in testimony during Congress of Delegates deliberations. "Let's talk about maximizing the amount that goes to the injured patients."
Such a strategy may be modeled on those developed by Citizens for a Fair Share, a political committee affiliated with the Florida Medical Association to support The Medical Liability Claimant's Compensation Amendment on the state's Nov. 2 ballot. The proposed amendment to the state constitution calls for plaintiffs to receive at least 70 percent of the first $250,000 in all damages and 90 percent of damages more than $250,000.
COD passage of the resolution aligns with an Academy professional liability reform goal "to be an advocate for the patient and help them obtain relief from costs related to professional medical liability insurance and to support solutions that more equitably and quickly compensate those truly injured in the course of medical care."
Earlier this year, the AMA said the number of medical liability crisis states had risen from 13 to 20. Only six states - California, Colorado, New Mexico, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Indiana - are considered stable.
Hicks noted tort reform rested on passage of constitutional amendments because, in most states, attorneys' fees are regulated by the judiciary. Thus, state courts will likely overturn legislation that limits attorneys' fees, he said.
Some FPs warned of potential backlash from the legal community. Florida AFP President Dennis Saver, M.D., of Vero Beach said Floridians for Patient Protection, formed by attorney groups, has garnered sufficient support for two amendments. The first amendment would allow patients to review records of facilities or health professionals' adverse liability incidents, and the second amendment would deny Florida medical licenses to physicians who have been found to have committed medical malpractice three or more times.
Despite the caution about backlash from lawyers, delegates responded to Hicks' plea - "If the Academy wants to be an advocate for the members, teach us how to advocate for ourselves" - and approved the call for developing strategies.
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Copyright © 2003 by American Academy of Family Physicians.