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Lawmakers consider medical malpractice lawsuit cap

Colorado Springs Business Journal, Feb 21, 2003 by Marylou Doehrman

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In December 2001, the Colorado Supreme Court added a brand new category with regard to malpractice suits called disfigurement and dismemberment - the only state in the country to include that category. It skewed the initial tort reform. Malpractice rates once again jumped, some as high as 27 percent. Hardest hit were the neurosurgeons whose rates currently average between $53,000 and $71,000. House Bill 1007 merely applies the same kinds of non- economic loss (the intangibles) caps to the new category - disfigurement, dismemberment or physical impairment. As it stands now, there is no cap for the recently added category. We just want to bring the original plan (tort reform) back to the forefront, said Dikeou.

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COPIC settled 121 medical malpractice suits in the last year. Settlements averaged $215,000 and ranged from $7000 to a little over a million dollars.

Physicians elsewhere in the country are feeling the crunch of exorbitant malpractice insurance costs. The docs are fighting back by refusing to work or perform certain procedures. Doctors aren't perfect - and the system is far from it. President Bush is encouraging caps as one way to reinvent the system. In that same State of the Union address, Bush discussed malpractice suits. "To improve our health care system, we must address one of the prime causes of higher costs - the constant threat that physicians and hospitals will be unfairly sued. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit."

The jury is still out with regard to malpractice caps. However, Dr. McMaster said that Colorado, with its caps, is a draw for doctors and a checks and balances process for the system. "Doctors want to come here, and they disappear if they're not towing the line."

Meanwhile, veterinarians may soon also be running with their tails between their legs, if House Bill 1260 passes. In a nutshell, the bill permits an owner of an injured companion dog or cat, under certain circumstances, to recover damages for loss of companionship at a $100,000 cap. Critics say veterinary costs will also climb.

Lawmakers consider medical malpractice lawsuit cap

Colorado Springs Business Journal, Feb 21, 2003 by Marylou Doehrman

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