The Doctor Is Out in New Jersey. The Times tries in this editorial to balance the controversy. They miss entirely. They miss the point.

I was talking with an obstetrician yesterday. We discussed malpractice premiums. I mentioned an article I read about a Wyoming obstetrician being charged $160,000 for the privilege to deliver babies. (I pulled that number from memory and cannot verify it). He shared that he received approximately $1,800 per delivery and probably did around 100 each year. You can do the math.

Why do we have a malpractice crisis? Do we have a physician malpractice epidemic? I believe that trial lawyers have created a culture which encourages a lawsuit for any bad outcome.

This culture does not just occur with physicians. You can read about excessive lawsuits at Overlawyered.com. In medicine, bad outcomes are too often blamed on the physician.

Several solutions seem apparent, but unlikely. First, we need to curb the true beneficiary of malpractice lottery – the lawyer!! The contingency fee arrangement encourages the “exploratory” lawsuit. Who knows? You might get a settlement just to prevent further legal proceedings. Second, we need to have better definitions of pain and suffering. Having each jury decide makes the system too random. Third, we need a different concept than punitive damages. If a physician needs punishment, then the courts can recommend such to the state board. State boards do a much better job than many think.

We cannot continue providing excellent health care under the current legal atmosphere. Our system is broken. But will anyone willingly fix it? Or will 2003 go down as the year of doctors’ strikes.