Medical Liability: Selected Research and Readings

Protecting Access to Care Through Civil Justice Reform

This CHA brief provides an overview of the current medical liability insurance environment in Ohio, including a look at high jury awards and insurance premiums as well as the laws passed most recently in Ohio that attempt to reign in the rapidly rising rates. For purposes of comparison, the legal environments in two other states that do not share Ohio’s woes – Indiana and Wisconsin – are also profiled.

(Kirstin Craciun and Michele Egan, The Center for Health Affairs, August 2004)

Ohio Department of Insurance: Physician Medical Malpractice Insurance Survey (Executive Summary)

More than one-third of Ohio doctors surveyed said they plan to retire in the next three years due to high medical malpractice premiums, according to the results of the largest study of the impact of malpractice insurance rates conducted in Ohio. Forty-eight percent of obstetricians/gynecologists and family practice physicians in Northeast Ohio surveyed have stopped delivering babies due to insurance costs, and more than 50 percent of the osteopathic doctors in the state no longer deliver babies. To view all of the findings contained in the full report click here.  

(Ohio Department of Insurance, February 2005)

Medical Malpractice Insurance: Multiple Factors Have Contributed to Premium Rate Increases 

Insurers’ losses on medical malpractice claims, declines in investment income, a less competitive climate and rising reinsurance rates are just some of the factors that have contributed to premium rate increases for medical liability insurance, according to this report. Available data indicate that states that have enacted tort reform legislation that includes a cap on non-economic damages have witnessed slower growth in premium rates compared to states with more limited reforms.  

[Government Accountability Office (formerly the General Accounting Office), October 2003]

Addressing the New Health Care Crisis: Reforming the Medical Litigation System to Improve the Quality of Health Care 

The rise in medical liability litigation is creating a crisis that threatens patient access to care, jeopardizes quality of care and increases health costs, according to this report. Graphs comparing states with different caps on non-economic damages and the corresponding medical liability premium rate increases provide a picture of how reforms are working in the states.

(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 2003)

Impact of State Laws Limiting Malpractice Awards on Geographic Distribution of Physicians 

Little research to date has examined the issue of how state laws limiting malpractice awards impact physician supply. According to this report, states with caps on non-economic damages have 12 percent more physicians per capita compared to states without such a cap.

(Fred J. Hellinger and William E. Encinosa, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, July 2003)

U.S. Tort Costs: 2003 Update 

Medical malpractice tort costs have risen an average of 11.9 percent per year, compared to an average annual increase of 9.3 percent per year for all other tort costs. According to this report, the tort system is extremely inefficient at compensating victims for their economic and non-economic (i.e. pain and suffering) losses, returning only 46 cents of the tort cost dollar for these purposes.

(Tillinghast-Towers Perrin, December 2003)

Summary of Medical Malpractice Law 

The law firm of McCullough, Campbell & Lane has transformed often complicated legal language on medical liability laws into clear, written descriptions of the medical malpractice laws for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Information on statutes of limitations, damage caps, caps on attorney’s fees, patient compensation funds and arbitration are just some of the facts available.

(McCullough, Campbell & Lane)

Last Updated: May 2005