Doctors protest cost of liability coverage

Doctors said insurance rates make it difficult to recruit and retain physicians.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- "Is there a doctor in the house?"
Physicians and surgeons who gathered on Kennedy Square for about four hours Tuesday say that if malpractice insurance rates continue to escalate in Pennsylvania, there might not be.
Doctors said frivolous malpractice suits and escalating malpractice insurance rates in Pennsylvania make it difficult to keep and recruit physicians.
Doctors in scrubs and white lab coats waved signs and cheered as passing cars and trucks honked in support. "Medical liability is choking health care" proclaimed one of the signs.
'Code Blue'
The event by Lawrence County's physicians and surgeons was part of the statewide "Code Blue" effort, a protest of medical malpractice costs.
The doctors did not schedule office visits or elective surgeries, but were available for emergencies and made hospital rounds. More than one doctor was overheard on a cell phone giving patient-care instructions.
Dr. Mohammad Ali, a New Castle pulmonologist, said his patients supported the Code Blue effort 100 percent. He held a sign that read, "Will the last doctor to leave Pennsylvania please turn off the X-ray machine?"
Ali said physicians and surgeons don't begrudge payment to patients who have received improper medical care.
Dr. Lawrence Fazioli, a family practitioner in New Castle and Bessemer, called for not only a cap on some medical malpractice payments, but on attorney fees as well.
"There's an illusion that there's an unlimited amount of money out there to pay claims," he said.
More control
He said frivolous lawsuits need to be controlled, and judges need to look harder at whether a malpractice case should even go to a jury.
Dr. Paul Wawrzynski II, a New Castle cardiologist, said malpractice insurance costs continue to rise while insurance reimbursements don't.
"We have no way to pass on those costs," he said.
Wawrzynski told of a friend who is one of three physicians with a group practice in obstetrics and gynecology. They recently limited the practice to gynecology only. He said they were splitting about $150,000 per year for malpractice insurance, but because they were practicing obstetrics, the cost rose to $400,000 per year.
Dr. Bob McGann, a New Castle orthopedic surgeon, has seen malpractice insurance rise steadily in the four years he has been in practice. He said orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery are two specialties hard hit by malpractice insurance fees.
"As a doctor coming out of a residency, you want to settle in and start a practice," he said. "With rates so high here, it makes it difficult to make a living, so recruiting is a problem."
McGann said three doctors completed orthopedic residency in Pennsylvania last year and all three left the state to practice elsewhere.