AMA to L.A. Times: MICRA works
January 15, 2005
Los Angeles Times Letter to the Editor
Los Angeles, CA
Contrary to the Jan. 10 editorial (in the L.A. Times), experience and research demonstrate that California's medical liability law, known as MICRA, is fair — to patients and physicians. Under the law, patients, not lawyers, receive a greater share of a jury award than they would in states without reforms.
Patients in California have full access to the courtroom and can recover millions in economic damages, plus an additional quarter-million dollars for pain and suffering.If patients are harmed by negligence, they should be fully and fairly compensated. In California, they are.
California's law also ensures that physicians' insurance premiums rise at moderate levels. A Los Angeles OB-GYN pays about $63,000 per year, but in such non-MICRA states as Pennsylvania and Illinois, an OB-GYN pays $147,000 to $161,000. In crisis states, high-risk specialists are restricting services, retiring early or relocating to other states.
The AMA strongly supports California's law as a model for federal reform for one simple reason: It works. It protects patients' access to care and injects some common sense into our nation's legal system. All Americans should be so lucky as to live under California-style reforms.
John C. Nelson MD, MPH President, American Medical Association
Visit http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.442.2008.29.271796 to read the letter.
Los Angeles Times Letter to the Editor
Los Angeles, CA
Contrary to the Jan. 10 editorial (in the L.A. Times), experience and research demonstrate that California's medical liability law, known as MICRA, is fair — to patients and physicians. Under the law, patients, not lawyers, receive a greater share of a jury award than they would in states without reforms.
Patients in California have full access to the courtroom and can recover millions in economic damages, plus an additional quarter-million dollars for pain and suffering.If patients are harmed by negligence, they should be fully and fairly compensated. In California, they are.
California's law also ensures that physicians' insurance premiums rise at moderate levels. A Los Angeles OB-GYN pays about $63,000 per year, but in such non-MICRA states as Pennsylvania and Illinois, an OB-GYN pays $147,000 to $161,000. In crisis states, high-risk specialists are restricting services, retiring early or relocating to other states.
The AMA strongly supports California's law as a model for federal reform for one simple reason: It works. It protects patients' access to care and injects some common sense into our nation's legal system. All Americans should be so lucky as to live under California-style reforms.
John C. Nelson MD, MPH President, American Medical Association
Visit http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.442.2008.29.271796 to read the letter.
posted by Bob Coli, MD at 1:06 PM
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