Lawsuits against doctors decrease

Wednesday, March 15, 2006 | 7:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Changes to state law designed to lower doctors' medical malpractice insurance premiums have yet to do so.

The biggest effect of the law has been a dramatic cut in malpractice lawsuits. Before the law changed, Clark County courts were averaging a little more than 330 new medical malpractice cases a year. Last year, the number was 160.

Trial attorneys say the decrease is because it's not worth pursuing a lawsuit in most cases. The law capped the amount of pain-and-suffering judgments at $350,000, which attorneys say isn't much, given the cost of hiring experts and preparing for a malpractice trial.

"I have not accepted a case for investigation because of the initiative," said Bill Bradley of Reno, who was a spokesman for trial attorneys campaigning against the changes to the law. "It treats victims so unfair."

The law was changed by the Legislature in 2002 and the voters in 2004 after doctors said skyrocketing insurance premiums were forcing many of them from the state. The law capped the amount of judgments in hopes of reducing premiums, the thinking being that insurance companies would lower premiums because their liability would be lessened.

But insurance companies haven't significantly lowered their rates, fearing the courts will overturn the law. Most doctors have seen either minor cuts in what were already high premiums or smaller annual increases.

"We've seen a stabilizing of the market," said Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association, which represents a majority of the state's doctors. "We're not seeing 80 or 100 percent increases."

Matheis said it will take the law surviving a court challenge before doctors "see real premium decreases and a number of new carriers enter the market."

Nevada Mutual Insurance Company Inc., which covers about 35 percent of the doctors for malpractice, lowered its rates by an average of 2 percent last year. But Nevada Liability Association of Nevada, the second largest insurer of doctors in the state, boosted rates by an average of 14.8 percent in 2005.

Bob Byrd, chairman of the board of Nevada Liability, said the company "didn't have a rate increase for three years" and said the 14.8 percent was a catch-up.

"We will probably seek a cost of living increase this year," he said.

While medical malpractice suits have declined, complaints filed with the state Board of Medical Examiners have skyrocketed since 2003.

Douglas Cooper, chief of investigations for the Examiners Board, said complaints have shot up from about 200 in 2003 to 600 that are now pending.

The board, which regulates the behavior of doctors, not only looks into medical malpractice claims but also such issues as sexual misconduct with a patient, drug use by the physician, falsifying records or over prescription of medication. A good number of the complaints come from patients who don't like the "demeanor" of a physician, Cooper said.

The sharp increase in complaints, said Cooper, is due in part to the growing number of doctors, hospitals and the population.