Editorial: Crisis now threatens the public

Tuesday, July 2, 2002 | 9 a.m.

The medical malpractice crisis is advanced enough that a shutdown of the trauma center at University Medical Center is scheduled for Wednesday. Doctors reacted coolly to last week's short-term solution approved by the Clark County Commission, which oversees the public hospital. They fear a patient could challenge in court the county's authority to impose what amounts to limited tort reform. Trauma surgeons argue they are exposed to the most risk, and insurance premiums for that amount of risk are prohibitively high. Over the past few weeks dozens of orthopedic surgeons have quit practicing as on-call specialists at UMC and efforts to persuade them to return have apparently failed.

The insurance increases that doctors are experiencing truly do amount to a crisis for them. But a shutdown of the trauma center in this urban area of a million-plus people could be life-threatening. Action leading to a shutdown could be more easily justified if every last public-policy initiative had been tried and had failed. That point has not yet been reached. The county plan approved Thursday allows the hospital administrator to increase the money doctors receive and limits their financial liability in any lawsuit. This plan deserves a chance until the Legislature crafts a long-term solution. And the governor is almost certain to call a special session this summer to vote on a long-term plan.

So far the public has been sympathetic toward the doctors in their fight against high malpractice insurance premiums, which they argue are caused by high jury awards for pain and suffering. Doctors could very well retain that support while advocating that the Legislature enact tort reform. But their support could vanish overnight if the pending shutdown of the trauma center results in loss of life. We urge the doctors to remain at UMC at least until they see what transpires at the special session.