Group: Women Terrorized by Falsehoods of Doctor Availability Due to Malpractice; Evidence Shows Docs Coming Into States, Not Leaving

5/7/2002

From: Joanne Doroshow of the Center for Justice & Democracy, 212-267-2801

NEW YORK, May 7 -- The following was released today by the Center for Justice & Democracy:

In what can only be described as a grotesque exploitation and abuse of women and children by the very doctors that should be caring for them, the trade association representing OB/GYNs has released a false report ostensibly showing an exodus of doctors from a number of states due to lawsuits by sick and injured women and children.

The nine states where doctors are supposedly leaving are: Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and West Virginia. Each of these states is being heavily lobbied by state medical associations for tort restrictions, even though in some states, like New York, malpractice rates are rising only slightly. Whenever claims of "exiting doctors" has been examined by journalists or consumer groups, evidence shows that doctors are coming into states, not leaving.

New York: According to the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), New York State is ranked third in the nation in its number of obstetricians and gynecologists per capita, well ahead of California (ranked 27th). When compared to the region, only Connecticut (ranked 2nd) is ahead of New York State in the number of OB/GYNs per capita. Moreover, the number of physicians practicing in New York State has skyrocketed and is increasing at a rate faster than the national average.

West Virginia: Charleston Gazette reporters Lawrence Messina and Martha Leonard found that despite claims from the West Virginia Medical Association that the lack of "tort reform" had caused a mass exodus of doctors from the state, the number of doctors in West Virginia had increased yearly, with the state seeing a 14.3 percent increase in its number of doctors between 1990 and 2000. This increase is at a rate about 20 times greater than the population.

Pennsylvania: According to a recent census conducted by the Pennsylvania Medical Professional Liability Catastrophe Loss Fund (CAT fund), the number of Pennsylvania doctors increased by 13.5 percent between 1990 and 2000, a period the population grew just 3.4 percent. The head of the CAT fund, John H. Reed, reported not only that there was no evidence of "any major departure of physicians from the state" but also that Pennsylvania had "more doctors (in 2001) than we did five years ago or ten years ago."