Post on Malpractice Coverage

Charles Silver, a law professor at the University of Texas, has a fascinating post up at Tort Deform, the anti-tort-reform blog sponsored by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy.  He discusses the results of several of the latest articles he has co-written (one of which is mentioned here).  Professor Silver opens with his own pathblography:

I recently suffered a grave injury during a hearing and balance test. The internal carotid artery on my right side dissected, a result of applying torque to my neck so a computer could get better readings from electrodes attached to my skin. A massive blood clot formed, blocking the artery 80-90 percent. I suffered blinding headaches, nerve damage, and other problems, and was hospitalized for over a week. Still, I count myself lucky. I’m alive and, apparently, I didn’t suffer a stroke. My doctors remain hopeful that, with time, I’ll recover.

He uses his narrative as a lens for contemplating (1) how often claimants receive compensation above and beyond malpractice policy limits; and (2) how much malpractice coverage (Texas) physicians typically carry.  He concludes:

This is the lesson of 14 years of medical malpractice litigation in Texas. Using a database of over 9,000 claims against doctors that closed with payments from 1990 to 2003, my colleagues and I discovered the following:
• Patients injured by medical malpractice rarely recover more than their physicians’ insurance policy limits.
• Malpractice payments stack up at the policy limits, suggesting that insurance policies cap recoveries even when patients deserve much more.
• Many doctors have small insurance policies. Almost 1/3 of Texas physicians with paid malpractice claims had $200,000 in coverage or less.
• Doctors almost never use personal assets to resolve malpractice claims. The claim that ‘every physician is one lawsuit away from financial ruin’ is a myth.

Fascinating.  I'll be interested to hear how AEI, among others, responds to these claims.  I also hope Professor Silver recovers fully from his injuries.

DIALOGUE: Ted Frank critiques Professor Silver's claims.

Comments

[Charles Silver]

Thanks both for making my column known to your readers and for your kind thoughts. On other blogs, the posted comments all focus on whether I have a good malpractice claims. So far, no one has taken issue with the substantive findings in my group's empirical studies. I'll be surprised if anyone does. Years ago, I worked with the Int'l Assoc. of Defense Counsel, the members of which are lawyers who work for insurance companies. They all told me that settlements above the policy limits are rare. Our studies validate and quantify this assertion. I'll be surprised if anyone disputes it.