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The Ohio Medical Malpractice Commission - with 10 members representing doctors, hospitals, lawyers, and the insurance industry - is preparing its final report to Gov. Bob Taft and the General Assembly. It is expected to say doctors continue to flee the state, give up riskier procedures, or at least think about it because of higher premiums. ... A recent University of Texas law school study of jury verdicts, settlements, and litigation costs in that state also challenges insurance company claims that lawsuits are the primary driver of premium increases. The study examined medical malpractice data between 1998 and 2003 that insurance companies there have been required to submit to the state for more than a decade. Responding to rising premiums, Texas, like Ohio, enacted damage caps in 2003. "The study looked at the claim frequency and pay-outs on claims, settlements, and total costs, including defense costs and jury verdicts," said Charles Silver, law professor and one of the study's authors. "We found that when you adjust for inflation, which you have to do, the average payment on claims and the median claim have not changed at all. "We were looking at whether any change in the tort system could be responsible for such a huge increase [in premiums] in a short period of time," he said. "Defense costs could not be responsible for that. Certainly they would help to drive up insurance rates to some degree, but we found that defense costs went up about 4.4 percent a year. There were no spikes."
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