Med-Mal Bill Yields Results

From the Charleston Gazette March 5, 2003, Wednesday
Copyright 2003 Charleston Newspapers

Bob Gray still remembers the magazine cover – a doctor getting into his car with a West Virginia license plate reading “GOODBYE.”

That cover of Medical Economics magazine symbolizes the view out-of-state doctors had of West Virginia as “tort hell,” said Gray, vice president of Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston.

But that image already may be changing, he said, even though the Legislature still hasn’t passed a medical malpractice bill.

“[Two medical residents in Alabama and California] said that we’ve completely turned around the image of malpractice in West Virginia.”

Bob Gray, vice president, Thomas Memorial Hospital

Gray said he talked to two medical residents in Alabama and California that he’s trying to recruit to Thomas.

“Both said that we’ve completely turned around the image of malpractice in West Virginia,” he said.

Area hospital officials said they hope to have an easier time recruiting doctors now that the Legislature looks ready to pass changes in the tort system.

Those changes would cap noneconomic damages at $ 250,000 for most patients, or up to $ 500,000 for some of the worst injured. The current cap is $ 1 million.

Many state doctors blamed lawsuits for the skyrocketing cost of malpractice insurance. Lawyers and consumer groups said insurance companies were trying to make up for losses on the stock market.

The state Medical Association said that the malpractice crisis was driving doctors out of the state. However, statistics never confirmed a doctor exodus. Also, West Virginia jury awards in malpractice trials are comparable to those in other states, suggesting that perhaps the state was no more a “tort hell” than anywhere else.

But perceptions matter, said Dr. Robert D’Alessandri, dean of West Virginia University’s medical school. A year ago, he said, “We’re known as malpractice hell. Whether that’s true or not, that’s the perception.”

Now, he’s confident that those perceptions are beginning to change. “We’re beginning to see in our students and residents a sense that things are going to get better.”

Other states are starting to see the same malpractice insurance premium hikes that led West Virginia doctors to threaten to leave or retire. The American Medical Association recently added six more states to its list of 12 where the malpractice insurance problem had reached the crisis level.

“West Virginia, unfortunately, was on the leading edge of this,” Gray said. “The tort reform should keep us from losing more doctors – there are fewer places for them to go.”

Gray said he couldn’t say exactly how many physicians had left the hospital or failed to come to the hospital because of high malpractice premium costs. But he said the crisis has caused Thomas to go without needed specialists in obstetrical care, orthopedics and a dozen other specialties.

Charleston Area Medical Center has lost 40 more doctors than it has been able to replace in recent years, according to David Ramsey, the hospital’s president.

One-third of 80 doctors who left or retired from Charleston-area hospitals in the last two years said medical malpractice factored into their decision, according to a recent Gazette survey.

Ramsey said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that he will have an easier time recruiting doctors to Charleston. But he is still waiting to see if the law survives a challenge in the state Supreme Court.

Persuading doctors to practice in West Virginia still won’t be easy, Ramsey said. Doctors tend to make more money in wealthier states, with fewer Medicare and Medicaid patients and more private-pay patients.

Also, for people who have never visited the state, Ramsey has to overcome the stereotype of West Virginia as a backward place.

But once they visit the Mountain State, many fall in love with its beauty and people, he said. Many are amazed at the low cost of living, the lack of traffic and the nearness of outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing and hunting.

Also, West Virginia is relatively free of managed-care plans, which many doctors dislike, he said.

Finally, West Virginia natives are famous for wanting to return home, he said.

“It has been a demoralizing last couple of years because those natives who wanted to come back couldn’t,” he said. “Now, we’re hopeful that we’ll see that change.”