Unhealthy Frivolous Lawsuits
Between the astronomical and growing cost of medical malpractice insurance, declining reimbursement rates and frivolous lawsuits, it’s no wonder that physicians throughout Missouri and Kansas and across the nation continue to scale their practices back and choose to retire early or consider other careers.
Interestingly, as we research physicians recommended for Ingram’s annual Top Doctors awards each year, we find that most nominees have been sued recently or may have a list of lawsuits where, in nearly every instance, the case was dropped or a minimal settlement was paid out of court. And these doctors are considered by their peers to be among the very best at what they do.
Surgeons and specialists such as ob/gyns in particular face some of the biggest challenges. It’s not unusual for ob/gyns to pay $100,000 or more annually in medical malpractice insurance premiums. Interestingly, ob/gyns are sued on average twice a year. One area ob/gyn friend of mine spent much of 2009, including valuable practice hours and many evenings and weekends, defending two frivolous lawsuits. One of them was filed by a plaintiff attorney who became the seventh lawyer in as many contingency lawsuits to represent a woman in a wrongful-death case. Despite being found innocent time and again, the physician and her insurance company have been forced to defend each of the seven lawsuits.
The problem is far reaching throughout the nation:
• In New York state, 212 of the licensed ob/gyns—or 16 percent—have stopped practicing obstetrics. Ob/gyns are being required to either continue to fund an astronomical rate for medical malpractice insurance or stop delivering babies, drop gynecological surgery, and possibly retire much earlier than planned.
• In Pennsylvania, which requires physicians to self-report allegations of medical malpractice when sued, more than half the state’s 25,000 doctors have been sued since the reporting mandate was adopted in 2002.
• And a national study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that 40 percent of malpractice claims involved no physician errors, and rightly produced no damage awards. Even in the cases that did produce awards, 54 cents of every dollar in compensation went not to the injured parties, but to lawyers, their courtroom experts, and to pay for court costs, the study of 1,452 malpractice cases showed.
Plaintiffs and their attorneys who file frivolous lawsuits where judgments are not awarded should be financially liable for legal and filing fees at the very least. The lack of such a basic standard of fairness has given rise to organizations like Medical Justice, a North Carolina-based physicians’ advocacy group that steps in to sue those who sue without just cause.
It’s a shame that the system had reached a point where such a need even existed. But, maybe it’s a symptom of something more deep-seated in our culture and the problem goes well beyond the medical field.
Closer to home, we terminated a former employee due to non-performance and extensively surfing unauthorized and inappropriate Web sites. Upon his termination, a lawsuit was threatened. We reluctantly settled by paying a nominal fee to avoid the expense associated with a trial. Interestingly, we learned this person and his attorney had wrung money out of several former employers.
It’s easy, in a case like that, to understand what many physicians are going through. I for one believe that plaintiffs should not only pay legal fees and court costs as well as damages if they’re not awarded judgment but their lawyer’s license should be revoked in the event of repetitive reports of unethical behavior. I’m sure many of Ingram’s readers including KC’s leading law firms would agree that there’s no place in the legal profession for unethical attorneys. 
Joe Sweeney
Editor-In-Chief & Publisher
Sweeney@IngramsOnLine.com