Subject: CJ&D in the News: Consumer groups release med mal ads
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 10:36:24 -0400
From:Rebecca Hoffman <rebecca@centerjd.org>
Reply-To: rebecca@centerjd.org, rebecca@centerjd.org
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Dear CJ&D Supporter,
CJ&D in coalition with USAction, another national consumer group, has launched an important ad campaign to
oppose S. 607, the medical malpractice bill that would deny so many injured patients access to the civil courts. We
want lawmakers to hear the patients' perspectives before they get back from break. Two of the three ads bring a
human face to basic unfairness and heartlessness of lawsuit restrictions. The third ad attacks malpractice insurance
companies for raising premiums to make up for investment losses. Read more below.
A huge thank you to Shawnna and Vernon Gardner who, at a moment's notice, came all the way from South
Dakota to Washington D.C. to attend the news conference that launched the TV spots and to lobby their Senators.
In memory of their son of Owen, they took time away from their farm to help protect the rights of patients. We are
incredibly grateful to them and o all the survivors of malpractice who have been working so hard to guarantee Americans' access to the civil courts.
Sincerely,
Rebecca
-----
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
April 23, 2003 Wednesday All Editions
Ads bring malpractice issue to Maine
BY MEG HASKELL, OF THE NEWS STAFF
Although it's not an especially contentious issue here, the medical malpractice battle is being brought to Maine this
week, courtesy of national consumer advocacy groups and local television.
Beginning today, a series of short advertisements will encourage Maine TV audiences to join the malpractice fray.
The consumer advocacy groups sponsoring the ads hope Mainers will pressure Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan
Collins, both moderate Republicans, to oppose a Bush administration initiative calling for limits on jury awards in
malpractice lawsuits.
Malpractice insurance in some states costs doctors $150,000 to $200,000 a year, one of many factors driving the
upward spiral of health care costs. President Bush wants to lower costs by imposing a federal cap of $250,000 on
the "pain and suffering" portion of malpractice awards, but consumer groups say capping erodes patient rights while
protecting physicians, hospitals and the insurance industry.
With a White House-endorsed bill already approved by the House, the organizations USAction and the Center for
Justice and Democracy are trying to enlist the sympathies of Maine television audiences to help derail Senate
approval.
Two of the ads use real-life stories to engage viewers' sympathies for malpractice victims.
In one, a young woman describes her unnecessary double mastectomy, which was based on misread laboratory findings.
Another features an engaging 2-year-old boy, who died when doctors failed to treat his simple dehydration.
The third ad attacks malpractice insurance companies for raising premiums to make up for investment losses.
All three ads urge viewers to contact their U.S. senators and ask them to vote against the capping legislation. The
ads will air on Portland and Bangor stations for about two weeks. In addition to Maine, the ads will run in Idaho,
Nevada, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Vermont. The total cost of running the spots is about $200,000.
Alliea Groupp of the Maine People's Alliance - an affiliate of USAction - said the seven states were selected
because the senators in those states are seen as key votes.
Bush's goal of reducing health care costs is based on faulty logic, Groupp said. In states that already have capped
their malpractice awards, such as California, Nevada and Missouri, insurance companies have not lowered their
rates, she said.
Gordon Smith, executive director of the Maine Medical Association, said the medical community is united in its
support for the capping legislation. Although the Maine malpractice system is not "in crisis" as some other states'
systems are, Smith said, he expects both of Maine's Republican senators to support the bill.
Smith stressed that the cap would not affect the economic portion of malpractice awards - for example, health care
costs and loss of income - but would limit noneconomic elements such as pain and suffering, and loss of consortiumto a reasonable level.
Smith said malpractice premiums in Maine, while still low by national standards, have increased 15 percent to 18
percent in the past year. The amount varies by specialty: Surgeons might pay $25,000-$35,000 a year,
obstetricians $30,000-$38,000. By comparison, an obstetrician in Florida might pay as much as $200,000 a year,
Smith said.
While premiums may not actually come down as a result of capping, Smith said, states that have enacted limits
have seen slower increases.
Lucy Stinson, executive director of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association, said the "one-size-fits-all" proposal is
modeled on tort reform passed in California in 1975. Tort reform usually is enacted on the state level, she noted.
"It's interesting that Republicans, who historically go for less [federal] intrusion would go for more" on the
malpractice issue, she said.
More meaningful improvements could be realized by reforming the insurance industry, Stinson suggested.
Maine's unique 1980s reform of malpractice litigation has been effective in keeping insurance rates low, Stinson
said. A system of "prelitigation screening" limits the number of cases that actually go to trial, with the great majority
settled out of court.
Between 1997 and 2002, she said, only 16 medical malpractice jury trials have taken place in Maine, almost all of
them yielding total awards of $1 million or less.
David Lackey, a spokesman for Sen. Snowe, said the senator has not yet seen a final version of the Senate bill and
has not announced her position.
Collins is also undecided, said her spokeswoman, Megan Sowards. "Senator Collins believes that we can't afford
to be driving good people from the edical profession and intends to study the legislation carefully once it comes out
of committee," Sowards said.
Maine's congressmen, Reps. Mike Michaud and Tom Allen, both Democrats, voted against the House measure.
------
Newsday (New York)
April 23, 2003 Wednesday ALL EDITIONS
Ads Target Senators;
Groups pan malpractice bill
By Matt Porio. WASHINGTON BUREAU
Washington - Consumer rights groups yesterday announced a series of emotional ads designed to pressure "swing"
senators into voting against a House-passed bill that caps punitive damages in medical malpractice cases at
$250,000.
The 30-second spots, which feature testimony from victims of medical malpractice, will run in five states - Idaho,
Maine, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont - where at least one senator has not "made a final decision on caps,"
according to Helen Gonzales of USAction, a liberal advocacy group that is co-sponsoring the ad campaign.
The ads also will run in the home states of Sens. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.), who are pushing
for Senate passage of the bill, which does not set any limits on economic damages, such as lost wages or medical
bills.
One of the ads features Vernon and Shawnna Gardner, whose son Owen died at age 2 because of incorrect
medical procedures. That case was settled. Linda McDougal, who underwent a double mastectomy after doctors
mistakenly diagnosed her with breast cancer, describes her ordeal in another. She is currently suing the lab.
If legislators "lose one of their sons or daughters to medical malpractice ... they won't be concerned about putting
caps on damages," says Vernon Gardner, a cattle rancher from Martin, S.D., in one of the ads.
Supporters of the legislation, however, maintain that doctors cannot afford insurance premiums because of
unreasonably high punitive awards. Caps, they say, would lower costs for insurance companies, which would mean
lower premiums and allow many doctors who would otherwise go out of business to continue practicing. The
American Medical Association has referred to the legal system as "out of control" regarding punitive
malpractice awards and blames the phenomenon for closed clinics, worsening medical care and doctor shortages.
A third ad in the series announced yesterday rebuts such claims and says higher premiums are a result of "price
gouging" by the insurance industry. It says the insurance companies are raising premiums to make up for decreasing
returns on their investments. Opponents of the legislation say jury-awarded punitive damages have very little to do
with the problem.
The legislation is at the top of the insurance industry's "wish list" and does not work, according to USAction
President William McNary, who said that a Senate vote on the bill could come at any time.
The AMA, however, cites California, where medical liability caps passed in 1975 and rates have risen 167 percent
in the ensuing years, compared with 505 percent in the rest of the country.
Proponents of the bill also say that the effort to block it is largely led by tort lawyers, who stand to lose a great deal
of money because of caps.
But for victims like McDougal, it's a matter of her rights and her pain. "A group of politicians want to take my right
to a trial by jury away," she says in her spot. "I dare them to go to one of these victims' houses and see how it has
affected these families."
------
Ads press Frist over malpractice suits
Associated Press
April 20, 2003
A coalition of consumer, labor and activist groups opposed to U.S. Sen.
Bill Frist's support for caps on medical malpractice claims is running television ads against him in Memphis.
"Traditionally, those who have led these kinds of fights have done so without feeling the appropriate pressure for
what they've done in their home districts and home states," Joanne Doroshow told The Commercial
Appeal newspaper of Memphis.
Doroshow is executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy and a spokesman for Americans for
Insurance Reform, the organization sponsoring the ads.
Frist, a surgeon, is a champion of legislation to cap the amount of punitive damages plaintiffs can claim in suits
against fellow doctors and their insurers. He argues that without such protection against
claims and rising insurance rates that many doctors will quit the profession or limit their services.
The U.S. House recently passed legislation to limit non-economic damages, such as for pain and suffering, to
$250,000 and to limit punitive damages to twice that of non-economic damages or $250,000,
whichever is greater.
Frist, a Tennessee Republican who controls the Senate agenda, wanted to bring the measure to the floor but then
held off to pursue a compromise with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
"From our perspective he needs to know there is some very serious opposition to the policies he will be pursuing
and his constituency needs to know that," said Doroshow.
She said the group is spending $225,000 on the ads, which also will be shown in Idaho, Maine, Nevada, Oregon
and Rhode Island, states with crucial votes.
In Tennessee, the ads are only being shown in Memphis, Doroshow said, because the group also wanted to reach
some voters in Mississippi and Arkansas.
Two of the three 30-second ads feature people who say they've been victimized by malpractice. In one ad, Vernon
and Shawnna Gardner of South Dakota relate how their 2-year-old son Owen died of dehydration
after being taken to a hospital.
"All he needed was an IV," says Shawnna Gardner. Her husband adds, "They lose one of their sons or daughters
to medical malpractice and they won't be concerned about putting caps on damages."
The ads end with a photo of Frist and his Memphis office number.
Frist spokesman Nick Smith responded, "Sen. Frist's concern first and foremost is with patient access and quality
care. He believes we need to provide fair and equitable compensation for those negligently injured
while stabilizing insurance costs for medical professions."
The third ad blames the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance on poor investment decisions by insurance
companies. A young boy is charged $14.03 for a candy bar by a store owner who says his bad investments
have forced him to gouge his customers.
The Health Coalition on Liability and Access, a pro-malpractice reform group formed by insurance companies and
medical associations, contends that in 2001, stock investments made up just 9 percent of medical
liability insurance industry portfolios.
Russ Miller, senior vice president of the Tennessee Medical Association, said the claim is particularly inapplicable
in Tennessee because most of the state's doctors buy their malpractice insurance through a company
they own themselves.
Steve Williams, president and chief executive officer of State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Co., said that in 2002,
95 percent of their investments were in bonds or similar secure instruments.
------
The Commercial Appeal
Ads press Frist over malpractice suits
April 20, 2003
By James W. Brosnan
Most interest groups target congressmen on the fence when they want to influence an issue.
But when Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) returns from a 10-day Asian
trip Tuesday he'll find that a group opposed to his pro-medical malpractice reform stance is running television ads against him in Memphis.
"Traditionally, those who have led these kinds of fights have done so without feeling the
appropriate pressure for what they've done in their home districts and home states," said Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the Center
for Justice and Democracy and a spokesman for Americans for Insurance Reform, a coalition of consumer, labor
and activist groups sponsoring the ads.
Frist, a surgeon, is a champion of legislation to cap the amount of punitive damages
plaintiffs can claim in suits against fellow doctors and their insurers. He argues that without such protection against claims and rising insurance
rates that many doctors will quit the profession or limit their services.
The House recently passed legislation to limit non-economic damages, such as for pain and suffering, to $250,000
and to limit punitive damages to twice that of non-economic damages or $250,000,
whichever is greater.
Frist, who controls the Senate agenda, wanted to bring the measure to the floor but then held off
to pursue a compromise with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
"From our perspective he needs to know there is some very serious opposition to the policies he will be pursuing
and his constituency needs to know that," said Doroshow.
She said the group is spending $225,000 on the ads, which also will be shown in Idaho, Maine, Nevada,
Oregon and Rhode Island, states with crucial votes.
In Tennessee, the ads are only being shown in Memphis, Doroshow said, because the group also wanted to reach
some voters in Mississippi and Arkansas.
Two of the three 30-second ads feature people who say they've been victimized by malpractice.
In one ad, Vernon and Shawnna Gardner of South Dakota relate how their 2-year-old
son Owen died of dehydration after being taken to a hospital.
"All he needed was an IV," says Shawnna Gardner. Her husband adds, "They lose one of their sons or daughters
to medical malpractice and they won't be concerned about putting caps on damages."
In the other,a Wisconsin woman, Linda McDougal, says both her breasts were removed after
a medical lab mistakenly reported she had cancer.
"A group of politicians wants to take my right to a trial by jury away," she says.
The ads end with a photo of Frist and his Memphis office number.
Frist spokesman Nick Smith responded, "Sen. Frist's concern first and foremost is with patient access and quality
care. He believes we need to provide fair and equitable compensation for those negligently injured while stabilizing
insurance costs for medical professions."
The third ad blames the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance on poor investment decisions by insurance
companies.
A young boy is charged $14.03 for a candy bar by a store owner who says his bad investments have forced him to
gouge his customers.
The Health Coalition on Liability and Access, a pro-malpractice reform group formed by insurance companies and
medical associations, contends that in 2001, stock investments made up just 9 percent of medical liability insurance
industry portfolios.
Russ Miller, senior vice president of the Tennessee Medical Association, said the claim is particularly
inapplicable in Tennessee because most of the state's doctors buy their insurance
through a company they own themselves.
Steve Williams, president and chief executive officer of State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Co., said that in 2002,
95 percent of their investments were in bonds or similar secure instruments.
In 1998,the company actually lowered malpractice rates by 2.2 percent and for the
next two years increases stayed in single digits.
But premiums rose 17.3 percent in 2001 and 15.1 percent in 2002, said Williams, because of rising malpractice
awards in lawsuits.
Williams said malpractice insurance for a physician in family practice can cost between
$8,000 and $10,000 a year, but can be up to $50,000 a year for neurosurgeons and obstetricians and gynecologists.
Contact Washington correspondent James W. Brosnan at (202) 408-2701.