Public Citizen Again Misleads Pennsylvanians, Says Pennsylvania Medical Society 3/5/2004
From: Chuck Moran of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, 717-558-7820 HARRISBURG, Penn., March 5 -- The following is a statement by Roger F. Mecum, executive vice president, Pennsylvania Medical Society: For the second year in a row, Public Citizen, a group founded by Ralph Nader and linked by the Capital Research Center's Foundation Watch to personal injury lawyers, has distributed misleading and inaccurate data to reporters regarding the practice of medicine in Pennsylvania. Today's release of Public Citizen's "The Facts About Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania" contains errors and is filled with trickery much like a similar report the group issued in January 2003. A 2003 Associated Press and Philadelphia Business Journal investigation of that report uncovered inaccuracies in Public Citizen's analysis. Among the many errors in today's Public Citizen report are half-truths about claim data and severity of award payments, as well as gerrymandering of physician manpower data. Also, Public Citizen has again ignored lawsuit abuse and how payouts for settlements and awards drive liability insurance costs. The truth is that personal injury lawyers, hiding behind smoke- and-mirror groups like Public Citizen, are abusing the legal system, forcing Pennsylvania doctors to leave the state, retire early, or give up high-risk procedures. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, personal injury lawyers have at least a 70 percent error rate in pursuit of a jackpot payday. With credibility lacking at Public Citizen, one must wonder why they released a shoddy report today. Are they possibly working in coordination with personal injury lawyers to keep Pennsylvanians from voting on a constitutional amendment to address lawsuit abuse? Interestingly, the Pennsylvania Senate is scheduled to debate this constitutional amendment on Tuesday, March 9. ------ The Pennsylvania Medical Society has been working to enhance the patient-doctor relationship since 1848. With member physicians throughout the commonwealth, as well as a statewide Patient Advisory Board, the medical society addresses concerns of both patients and doctors to improve the delivery of health care services. To learn more about the Pennsylvania Medical Society, visit its Web site at http://www.pamedsoc.org. |