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Tuesday, February 14, 2006

There Is No Medical Malpractice Litigation Crisis in Tennessee!

Folks,

The Tennessee Medical Association ("TMA") is seeking -- may have already done so -- to have Tennessee declared a "crisis" state, i.e., they are saying we have too many medical malpractice lawsuits. Trust me: WE DON'T!! To the naysayers who want proof that we don't have a medical malpractice lawsuit crisis, here it is, to wit:

1. Here's a recent story from the The Memphis Flyer about the state of malpractice in Tennessee, and the financial condition of State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company ("SVMIC"). SVMIC is the dominant malpractice insurance carrier in this state. As you can read, SVMIC is financially sound. The URL for this story:
http://www.memphisflyer.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=10517.

2. Professor Tom Baker has written a very informative book entitled The Medical Malpractice Myth. It's avialable at Amazon.com (here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/). His book shows that the current medical liability insurance "crisis" is not the fault of trial lawyers, bad investments by insurance companies, etc. It's due to what is called the "underwriting cycle." And he offers some ways to fix the real problem. What is the real problem? Medical malpractice. Professor Baker offers studies (some performed by doctors) that show that there is not enough medical malpractice suits and too few victims of medical malpractice are compensated.
It all boils down to this: Do we want to base any sort of resolution of this issue upon anecdotes and myths (and base legislation upon them), or do we want to address this issue and base any resolution of it upon facts? Facts that -- if utilized -- will help compensate more victims of medical malpractice and help improve our healthcare system. My vote is to utilize the facts.
When you view the facts it is clear, there are not too many medical malpractice lawsuits -- in Tennessee or in the United States. The TMA's position -- and anyone else who subscribes to this belief -- is inaccurate. It's up to us (as attorneys and concerned citizens) to ensure that the myth is revealed for what it is: a myth, a fallacy, an untruth.

MORE IMPORTANTLY: SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH YOUR LEGISLATOR
!

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