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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2004)
BY ALAN PITTMAN Malpractice Doctors want Measure 35 to scalpel lawyers, but patients bleed. A “Voter’s Guide for the State of Oregon” appeared in millions of mailboxes this week. The “guide” looks official. It’s stark printing, font and formatting closely resem- bles the state’s official Voters’ Pamphlet. But it’s not. It’s from the coalition of doctors, hospitals and insurance companies spending millions of dollars to push Measure 35 — a constitutional amendment to allow negligent or reckless doctors and hospitals to inflict pain and suffering and not have to pay more than $500,000 in non- economic damages. tive and lax. Five percent of the doctors in the U.S. are responsible for 54 percent of malpractice payouts, Public Citizen found. But state medical boards have disciplined only 8 percent of these few, worst doctors. One doctor paid more than $10 million for injuring 13 different people in Nevada and California in 10 years but was never disci- plined. The dangerous doctor’s name is kept se- cret in a National Practitioner Data Bank. In Oregon, the state will provide information on how many people have complained about a car dealer you’re thinking of buying The medical profession could keep the malpractice claims away by tossing out a few bad apples, but enforcement is secretive and lax. Unlike the official state Voters’ Pamphlet, the look-alike contained only ar- guments in support of Measure 35 and the claim that personal injury attorneys were “the only opposition” to the initiative. But Measure 35 isn’t just about doctors and lawyers clawing at each other for cash. It’s health care consumers that are under the knife and have the most at stake. The biggest health care consumer groups are op- posed to Measure 35. The American Association of Retired Persons, with half a million Oregon mem- bers, and the Grey Panthers are among the many senior citizen groups opposed to Measure 35. The AFL-CIO and other unions for firefighters, teachers and govern- ment workers say the measure will also hurt their hundreds of thousands of members. Oregon’s major newspapers, including The Oregonian and The Register-Guard, have also editorialized against the measure as bad for health care consumers. The state and nation’s largest public interest health advocacy groups oppose Measure 35, in- cluding Common Cause, the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) and Public Citizen. Public Citizen, a 150,000 member con- sumer advocacy non-profit, has researched the issue of capping doctor liability exten- sively. There are too few malpractice law- suits, not too many, according to the con- sumer group’s reports. Preventable medical errors kill between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans a year, costing society from $17 billion to $29 billion annually, according to a Institute of Medicine Study. In Oregon, that amounts to an estimated cost to society of $207 million to $353 million for the 535 to 1,191 people killed each year by prevent- able medical errors. Although hundreds die and countless oth- ers are maimed or in pain, doctors face few serious repercussions. In Oregon, only 44 doctors had their medical licenses revoked, suspended or restricted in 2002. Studies by Harvard University, Utah, Colorado and Florida researchers have found that only one in six to one in eight medical errors results in a malpractice claim. The medical profession could keep the malpractice claims away by tossing out a few bad apples, but enforcement is secre- a used ride from, but not about a doctor you’re thinking about paying to cut you open and handle your vital organs. By law, the 11-member Oregon Board of Medical Examiners is in charge of handling complaints against doctors but includes only two members representing health con- sumers. The medical profession is so poorly reg- ulated that doctors with patients’ lives in their hands are allowed to work up to 36 hours without sleeping. Mistakes happen. During 2001 in Florida hospitals, doctors committed 54 surgeries on wrong parts of the body, 16 wrong procedures and nine op- erations performed on wrong patients. Doctors and hospitals argue that Oregon needs Measure 35 because high malpractice insurance premiums are driving away doc- tors, especially in rural areas. But a study by Public Citizen and OS- PIRG of state data found this year that there are actually more doctors moving to Oregon. The number of active doctors in Oregon rose 12 percent in the last four years, the consumer groups reported. Increases were even higher in higher risk specialties like obstetrics and in rural areas, according to the report. To help rural areas attract doctors, the Oregon Legislature last year set up a $40 million program that will cut rural doctors’ malpractice premiums by up to 80 percent. In any case, doctors don’t decide where to live based on state liability laws. “Like anyone else, doctors want to live in places where they can earn high incomes, enjoy cultural and leisure activities, and send their children to good schools,” OSPIRG and Public Citizen reported. The two consumer groups also pointed out that limiting non-economic damages will hurt the poor and women, children, mi- norities and seniors the most. These people can’t show big paychecks to demonstrate the lost income required by substantial eco- nomic awards. On the other hand, doctors do have fat paychecks—averaging $175,000 a year. But Public Citizen reported medical mal- practice insurance costs amount to only 3.2 percent of the average physician’s rev- enues. That’s not enough to cause much pain and suffering. ew Pro-Education Pro-Health Care Pro-Jobs Pro-Clean Air Pro-Clean Water 515 HIGH Eugene 541-485-4224 OPEN Mon-Sat 10-6 & Sun 12-5 State Senator Floyd in' miss Y'er nty Ple don't if you Prozanski P SHO E! HER District 4 Keep him working for us Paid and authorized by Friends for Floyd Prozanski, John VanLandingham, Treasurer, PO Box 11511, Eugene, OR 97440. www.floyd4senate.com www.greatergoodsonline.com ALL NEW, CREEPY CREATION! NEW MAZE LAYOUT! THREE TIMES LARGER & MORE TERRIFYING! 31st ANNUAL Oct. 21-23 & Oct. 28-31 Hours: Thu. & Sun. 7pm-10pm Fri. & Sat. 7pm-11pm Located in Equestrian Building at The Lane County Fairgrounds Admission $7.50 per person, ages 6 and over. Ages 6-11 must be accompanied by an adult. For more information call 341-6200 or www.eugene2030.org Sponsored By: The Eugene Active 20-30 Club, Starbucks, Big Boy Toys, Jerry’s, KDUK, Dominos Pizza, Pepsi & Bi-Mart OCTOBER 21, 2004 13
