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-April 3, 2005
A new study, "Uncovering the 'Invisible' Profile of Medical Malpractice Litigation: Insights from Florida," is being published as the Florida Legislature continues to address the state's medical malpractice "crisis."
According to an analysis of data by two Duke University professors, there has been no dramatic increase in the number of Florida medical malpractice claims filed in the past 14 years when compared to the state's population growth.
The medical profession has targeted lawyers for driving up malpractice insurance premiums, but the president of the Academy of Florida Trail Lawyers, Alexander Clem, says the research "underscores what we've been saying forever."
Both doctors and medical malpractice insurers have been claiming insurance costs have climbed dramatically because of the number of lawsuits and large payouts that have increased over the years. As a result, caps on noneconomic damages awarded to Florida medical malpractice victims were passed, though trial lawyers disputed the arguments blaming rising insurance costs on the underpricing of policies, poor insurer investments and downturns in the business cycle.
Most large payments to Florida medical malpractice victims were made in settlements, many without a lawsuit being filed, according to the study, which spanned 1990 to 2003. Data came from detailed reports of all closed claims submitted by medical malpractice insurers to the Florida Department of Health. In addition, the researchers also used jury verdict reports compiled by Westlaw, a provider of online legal resources.
The Duke study indicated the number of paid medical malpractice claims between 1990 and 2003 averaged 1,508 per year. Though there was a 26 percent increase in frequency of claims between the first four years of the 1990s and the first four years of the 2000- decade, researchers said when compared with increases in population and the number of health care providers, the frequency of paid malpractice claims remained stable for the past 14 years.
Florida's population grew by 31.5 percent between 1990 and 2003, from 12.9 million residents to 17 million residents. Despite the population growth, the number of medical malpractice claims paid in Florida per 100,000 residents actually decreased from 12.36 in 1996 to 9.74 in 2003. The number of licensed doctors in Florida also grew by about 3.5 percent a year, while the number of claims paid per 100 doctors declined from 4.47 in 1996 to 3.33 in 2002, according to the most recent available data.
The study will be released in the DePaul Law Review.
For more information on Florida medical malpractice, please contact us to speak with a laywer.
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