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A Roseburg doctor and Eugene trial lawyer agreed Monday that medical malpractice lawsuits have taken a toll on the health care system, but they disagreed on where the problems lie and how to fix them.
Bob Dannenhoffer, a local pediatrician and Mercy Medical Center's vice president for clinical effectiveness, and attorney Don Corson, who has his own law firm, debated in front of about 30 people about the issue at a forum hosted by the Douglas County Bar Association.
Danny Lang, a Roseburg attorney, said the association hosted the event at the Tom Tom Restaurant in Roseburg to create a dialogue between the medical and legal communities.
"There's really a gap between communication," Lang said. "I'd like to see us start another forum ... if we don't know what they're thinking and they don't know what we're thinking, we have a problem that multiplies."
Dannenhoffer believes that because Oregon has no caps on noneconomic damages for malpractice lawsuits, it has become too costly for physicians who work in fields such as neurosurgery and obstetrics to practice medicine. They're retiring early and fewer medical students are choosing to study in those fields.
That's because doctors in those professions deal with high-risk situations and are sued more often, Dannenhoffer said. They also have to pay higher insurance premiums than other doctors because they're more likely to be sued for much higher amounts.
Dannenhoffer, who heads a committee in the Roseburg medical community that recruits doctors, said it's difficult to find physicians willing to practice medicine in those specialties.
He thinks the current law should be overturned and a liability fund should be set up instead to compensate patients who've received negligent care in high risk areas. The state fund would be similar to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program created by Congress in response to a high number of vaccine lawsuits in the 1970s and '80s.
But Corson doesn't think that Oregon's law is the problem. In 1994, the Oregon Court of Appeals determined a cap on noneconomic damages was unconstitutional. Two ballot measures to overturn the decision in 2000 and 2004 failed.
Medical malpractice costs less than 2 percent of overall health care spending in the United States, according to the Congressional Budget Office's 2004 report "Limiting Tort Liability for Medical Malpractice."
"Anything you do in the legal system you can't make much of a difference as for the cost of medicine," Corson said.
Furthermore, those physicians who work in states that do have caps on noneconomic damages find that their insurance premiums are just as high or higher, Corson said. Their premiums don't decrease because the insurance companies have control.
Insurance companies are exempt from federal anti-trust law, which means they're allowed to legally fix prices, Corson said. He believes insurance reform is the answer.
But Dannenhoffer said he thinks the picture is much bigger than insurance reform. Oregonians are able to sue doctors for $1 million or more for pain and suffering.
"The higher rewards fuels the system," Dannenhoffer said.
Corson countered that in Oregon's history, lawyers have typically taken what the insurance companies will pay and doctors do not have to pay out-of-pocket.
Despite their different views, Dannenhoffer and Corson agreed that patient safety and good quality care is the goal.
"I do think we can work together," Dannenhoffer said.
* You can reach reporter Danielle Gillespie at 957-4202 or by e-mail at dgillespie@newsreview.info.
Bob Dannenhoffer, a local pediatrician and Mercy Medical Center's vice president for clinical effectiveness, and attorney Don Corson, who has his own law firm, debated in front of about 30 people about the issue at a forum hosted by the Douglas County Bar Association.
Danny Lang, a Roseburg attorney, said the association hosted the event at the Tom Tom Restaurant in Roseburg to create a dialogue between the medical and legal communities.
"There's really a gap between communication," Lang said. "I'd like to see us start another forum ... if we don't know what they're thinking and they don't know what we're thinking, we have a problem that multiplies."
Dannenhoffer believes that because Oregon has no caps on noneconomic damages for malpractice lawsuits, it has become too costly for physicians who work in fields such as neurosurgery and obstetrics to practice medicine. They're retiring early and fewer medical students are choosing to study in those fields.
That's because doctors in those professions deal with high-risk situations and are sued more often, Dannenhoffer said. They also have to pay higher insurance premiums than other doctors because they're more likely to be sued for much higher amounts.
Dannenhoffer, who heads a committee in the Roseburg medical community that recruits doctors, said it's difficult to find physicians willing to practice medicine in those specialties.
He thinks the current law should be overturned and a liability fund should be set up instead to compensate patients who've received negligent care in high risk areas. The state fund would be similar to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program created by Congress in response to a high number of vaccine lawsuits in the 1970s and '80s.
But Corson doesn't think that Oregon's law is the problem. In 1994, the Oregon Court of Appeals determined a cap on noneconomic damages was unconstitutional. Two ballot measures to overturn the decision in 2000 and 2004 failed.
Medical malpractice costs less than 2 percent of overall health care spending in the United States, according to the Congressional Budget Office's 2004 report "Limiting Tort Liability for Medical Malpractice."
"Anything you do in the legal system you can't make much of a difference as for the cost of medicine," Corson said.
Furthermore, those physicians who work in states that do have caps on noneconomic damages find that their insurance premiums are just as high or higher, Corson said. Their premiums don't decrease because the insurance companies have control.
Insurance companies are exempt from federal anti-trust law, which means they're allowed to legally fix prices, Corson said. He believes insurance reform is the answer.
But Dannenhoffer said he thinks the picture is much bigger than insurance reform. Oregonians are able to sue doctors for $1 million or more for pain and suffering.
"The higher rewards fuels the system," Dannenhoffer said.
Corson countered that in Oregon's history, lawyers have typically taken what the insurance companies will pay and doctors do not have to pay out-of-pocket.
Despite their different views, Dannenhoffer and Corson agreed that patient safety and good quality care is the goal.
"I do think we can work together," Dannenhoffer said.
* You can reach reporter Danielle Gillespie at 957-4202 or by e-mail at dgillespie@newsreview.info.
