Lawyers, doctors agree on focus of meetings

Tuesday, June 18, 2002 | 11:30 a.m.

Lawyers, doctors and insurance company representatives have agreed on four broad topics that will frame their discussions on how to solve Nevada's medical malpractice liability dilemma.

At an informal closed-door meeting Monday afternoon at the Jones Vargas law offices in Las Vegas, the participants agreed to tackle tort reform, insurance reform, medical record disclosure issues and the state's Medical Dental Legal Screening Panel.

They tentatively agreed to meet again next Monday, though a location has not yet been chosen.

Gov. Kenny Guinn, who had urged the parties to get together, made a brief appearance at the meeting and told the 15 representatives at the gathering that he will call a special legislative session if they can reach a compromise within the next 37 days.

"The tenor he set is that it was positive that everyone was sitting at the table," Guinn spokesman Greg Bortolin said. "He didn't offer specifics. He encouraged everyone to work hard to come up with a consensus so that the governor could take the appropriate action."

Dr. Ikram Khan, a Las Vegas surgeon who serves as the Nevada Medical Liability Physicians Task Force liaison with Guinn, said the parties agreed to gather data in relation to each of the four topics. The task force represents the state's major medical groups, including the Nevada State Medical Association, Clark County Medical Society, Clark County OB/GYN Society and other specialties.

"I'm hopeful and cautiously optimistic," Khan said after the meeting. "We're all well-meaning individuals. The meeting was smooth."

Las Vegas attorney Dean Hardy, a past president of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association, agreed with Khan's assessment, saying he was "guardedly optimistic."

"It was very, very productive," Hardy said. "We got a lot of issues on the table. We want to deal with one set of facts because we're dealing with a lot of misinformation. Everybody came in good faith and it was spirited."

Las Vegas attorney Jim Wadhams, a lobbyist for the Nevada's insurance industry who also attended the meeting, also said his optimism about progress "is very guarded at this point." His concern is that Las Vegas has a long way to go if it wants to have a competitive medical malpractice insurance industry.

"My problem is I'm hoping to have some clients by the time this is all said and done," Wadhams said. "The fundamental problem is we don't have insurers. We have to look at what we can do, if anything, to make this a more attractive business environment for our insurance companies and ensure that there are fair and competitive prices."

Khan conceded that the topic of skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance costs faced by doctors is a "complex issue." Hardy agreed, adding that each of the four topics chosen for discussion contain their own set of issues.

Bortolin said one problem is that doctors, lawyers and insurers often have not relied on the same data to make their arguments.

"At times they argue apples and oranges and they haven't been arguing on the same issues," Bortolin said.

Doctors want tort reform that they say would limit the amount of money injured plaintiffs could gain for pain and suffering but stabilize insurance rates and keep doctors in the state.

Lawyers say tort reform is unfair to injured plaintiffs and has not stabilized rates in other states, despite arguments from doctors to the contrary. Instead, lawyers are pushing for insurance industry reforms, such as prohibiting insurers from raising their rates when they lose a jury verdict that they could have settled for much less money.

Insurers also want tort reform but favor any system that will bring more insurance companies to the state and increase competition. Insurers also want it made easier for them to predict how much to charge physicians for liability insurance.

Doctors and lawyers do agree that the Medical Dental Legal Screening Panel, which was intended to weed out potential frivolous lawsuits, is in need of reform to make it more efficient.

The medical liability task force, in a poll of 400 Clark County residents conducted last month, said it found that 79 percent of respondents agreed that "there is a malpractice insurance crisis in Nevada today that could dramatically reduce the level of health care" in their community.

The poll also found that 60 percent agreed with the doctors' proposed $250,000 cap on non-economic damages such as for pain and suffering, and that 81 percent believed medical malpractice lawsuits would be greatly reduced "if trial lawyers knew up front that there would be limitations on the amount of money they could sue for."

The poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent, also found that 74 percent believed doctors would leave the county if malpractice jury verdicts continued to escalate.

But Hardy said he didn't put a lot of stock in the poll.

"I don't think it is based on fact," he said.