Editorial: Lack of info flummoxes legislators

Thursday, May 16, 2002 | 8:55 a.m.

The Legislature created a committee to investigate the soaring costs of medical malpractice insurance in Southern Nevada, a panel that is supposed to offer recommendations on how to address this issue. But at their meeting on Monday the legislators could be excused for coming away more perplexed than informed as to the problem's severity. There isn't the kind of record-keeping by state agencies to give legislators a real understanding of whether insurance rates are being driven higher by malpractice jury awards or whether it's simply a matter of insurance companies gouging doctors, a practice that wouldn't be stopped by tort reform.

One of the areas of dispute between doctors and trial lawyers revolves around the state's medical screening panel, a body that offers a recommendation as to whether a lawsuit has merit. Trial lawyers say the screening panel deters frivolous lawsuits, but doctors say that the panel doesn't weed out bogus cases. In an effort to wade through these competing claims, legislators wanted to find out the outcomes of cases that went forward after getting a thumbs-down from the panel. How many were actually settled or went to trial? How much money did the plaintiffs receive? No one has provided the answers to these questions yet, but the Insurance Division hopes to have this information soon.

The lack of meaningful statistics involving the screening panel is but one missing piece of the puzzle. The state Insurance Division acknowledged Monday that it couldn't provide the legislative committee with data showing what portion of claims have included judgments for pain and suffering, a key bit of information since doctors have said that limits on pain and suffering would help lower their insurance rates. And as the Sun reported in a story last week, it's difficult to verify statements by doctors' groups that higher premiums have caused many physicians, especially OB-GYNs, to quit their practices: The state doesn't track changes in the number of specialists and what their reasons are for ending their practices in Nevada.

The Insurance Division and the state Medical Licensing Board need to step up their collection and continued monitoring of information. If that means more staffing, then the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee should provide that funding. The doctors are asking for a drastic measure when they seek a curb on jury awards, a remedy that limits an individual's right to be compensated if he is harmed. The Legislature should have much more independent evidence as it explores all avenues of this complex problem that doesn't have an easy answer.