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Tuesday, April 08, 2003In a January study, Public Citizen said that 10.6 percent of Pennsylvania's 39,000 doctors had paid off at least two malpractice lawsuit claims or settlements -- a rate that topped the nation. Moreover, the group said, 4.7 percent of the state's doctors paid off three or more malpractice lawsuits, accounting for more than half of all monetary payouts awarded in Pennsylvania's liability cases. But Public Citizen now says that information was gleaned from a national database that tracks medical malpractice payouts, but which may have overcounted Pennsylvania statistics. ...Public Citizen now says that at least 5.4 percent of Pennsylvania doctors have paid off at least two malpractice claims, accounting for 52.5 percent of all payouts in the state. At least 2 percent of doctors paid off at least three cases, the group says. The new numbers would rank Pennsylvania below other states with repeat doctor payouts in malpractice cases. West Virginia, where 9.3 percent of the state's 4,296 doctors have paid two or more malpractice payments, would now lead the nation, according to Sid Wolfe, Public Citizen's top medical liability analyst. The doctors of Pennsylvania would like an apology: "We would have hoped that Public Citizen would issue a public apology to the citizens of Pennsylvania for deliberately deceiving them on this issue," Moran said. "It's ironic that they initiated a report called 'Medical Misdiagnosis,' challenging the malpractice claims of the doctor's lobby, when, in fact, they are the ones that misdiagnosed the situation." Don't hold your breath for that apology. It wouldn't advance their agenda. posted by Sydney on 4/08/2003 07:27:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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