Improved malpractice environment bringing doctors to Texas
Four years after Texas voters approved a state constitutional amendment limiting medical malpractice lawsuit awards, doctors from all around the country are moving there to add to the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring health care to some underserved rural areas.
The influx, which has significantly improved the state's ranking in physicians per capita, has made considerable work for the Texas Medical Board, which can take up to six months to process the many hundreds of applications that have come in.
Neurosurgeon and lawyer Donald Patrick, the board executive secretary, told The New York Times the increased workload was hard to believe at first. But he said the trend has held, with licenses up 18% overall since 2003, when the caps were enacted. In fact, in the last fiscal year there were 30% more license applications than in the year before. "Doctors are coming to Texas because they sense a friendlier malpractice climate," Dr. Patrick declared.
Some observers have expressed doubts about the role played by the malpractice caps, noting that malpractice lawsuit awards showed little increase in the 12 years before the law changed. And liability lawyers said the changes may have left patients more vulnerable. They said doctors often have cut back on their insurance in response to the reduced malpractice exposure, making it harder for plaintiffs to collect damages.
Noneconomic damages for pain and suffering are generally held to $250,000. Plaintiffs still can recover economic losses, like the cost of continuing medical care or lost income, but the amount they can win was capped at $1.6 million in death cases.
The National Conference on State Legislatures says all but 15 states have adopted some limits on medical damage awards, but those in Texas go further than in many states, where the limits are often twice as high as in Texas. An average 21.3% drop in malpractice insurance premiums has helped send the message about the Texas environment.
In some medical specialties, the gains have been particularly impressive, according to the Texas Alliance for Patient Access. There have been 186 new obstetricians, 156 orthopedic surgeons, and 26 neurosurgeons.
Not everyone is satisfied, however. "We've lost our system of legal accountability," Texas Watch executive director N. Alex Winslow told the Times. "Just having more doctors doesn't make patients safer. It remains to be seen who is coming to our state."
Texas Watch also questioned the decline in malpractice insurance rates, saying they must be evaluated in light of increases of nearly 150% before the 2003 constitutional amendment.
Four years after Texas voters approved a state constitutional amendment limiting medical malpractice lawsuit awards, doctors from all around the country are moving there to add to the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring health care to some underserved rural areas.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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