Maryland Doctors Do Not Face Medical Malpractice Insurance Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Contrary to claims by the Maryland State Medical Society and Medical Mutual insurance company, physicians in Maryland are not facing a "crisis" in medical malpractice insurance rates caused by a rash of malpractice lawsuits and skyrocketing jury awards, according to a Public Citizen report released today.

Data from government sources show that in recent years the number of medical malpractice lawsuits per physician in Maryland has declined significantly; the total and average amounts of medical malpractice payouts to victims have declined dramatically; the number of $1 million-plus payouts has plummeted; and the doctor population is increasing.

These findings stand in stark contrast to claims made by the Medical Society and Medical Mutual, the largest insurer of doctors in the state – claims that were used to justify a recent 28 percent increase in medical malpractice insurance rates granted by the state insurance department. Both groups are gearing up to demand that the state legislature pass a law that will significantly limit a patient’s ability to hold a health care provider fully accountable for negligence.

The study’s most dramatic finding is that just 3 percent of Maryland’s doctors have been responsible for 50.8 percent of malpractice payouts to patients since 1990, when the federal National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) began collecting such information. These 576 doctors each have made at least two payouts. Conversely, 89.4 percent of Maryland’s doctors have never made a malpractice payout.

"There is no medical malpractice lawsuit problem in Maryland," said Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch and an author of the study. "Marylanders need to look beyond the scare tactics of the Medical Society. It would be a huge mistake to restrict patients’ legal rights so that they cannot hold doctors, hospitals and insurance companies fully accountable for deaths or serious injuries."