By Bob LaMendola, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jan. 28--WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--A conference hall overflowing with 800 riled up physicians looked and sounded more like a political rally than an educational seminar on Monday.
'Tort reform now,' they chanted. 'Tort reform now.'
The slogan referred to state legislative proposals to restrict medical malpractice lawsuits, the hot-button topic that led one-third of Palm Beach County's active doctors to forgo seeing patients for the day and instead gather at a Hilton hotel for speeches.
This was not a doctor walkout, as happened on small scales Monday in Mississippi and earlier in the month in West Virginia. But physicians said they took the day away from work to show they were getting angrier that malpractice insurance is becoming 40 percent to 100 percent more expensive or is drying up altogether.
'It's just wrong what is happening to doctors now,' said Dr. Jacques Farkas, a neurosurgeon from Atlantis who was quoted a premium of $260,000 a year for $250,000 of coverage. 'You only have three options. You can pay these ridiculous premiums. You can go bare [self-insured]. Or you can leave the state. I'm going self-insured.'
Health officials said they noticed little effect from doctors being away from their offices. Some emergency rooms saw a few extra patients. But virtually all doctors who attended Monday's seminar did normal hospital rounds. The seminar, organized by the Palm Beach County Medical Society, continues today.
Doctors in Florida and across the nation are making a major push this year to win a $250,000 maximum on the non-economic 'pain and suffering' awards in malpractice lawsuits. They and insurance companies contend that runaway jury awards are at the root of the malpractice problem.
One corridor away in the same hotel, the doctors' chief opponents -- trial lawyers -- staged a counter-rally featuring 75 people who said they were the victims of medical malpractice by doctors or hospitals.
The group, called Floridians for Patient Protection, said capping malpractice cases would serve only to further harm those injured by medical mistakes and let bad doctors off the hook. Several noted that the parking lot outside the doctors' seminar was heavy with Jaguars, Mercedes Benzes and Lexuses.
Under state law, adult children cannot sue for non-economic losses in the death of a parent, and doctors can shield sizable assets, said Mallorye Cunningham of West Palm Beach, who is suing two anesthesiologists in the death of her mother, Nealia, in April 2001.
'A cap would be totally unfair to the patients,' said Cunningham, whose mother's heart stopped during a simple eye operation. 'My mother's life was snatched away by malpractice. Doctors are the most protected citizens in Florida. What more do they want?'
Lawyers contend that the insurance problem is the result of bad economic conditions and bad business decisions by the insurance industry. They say lawsuit caps would not solve the problem.
The issue is expected to be the most contentious of the two-month session of the state Legislature, which starts in March. The toughest battle shapes up to be in the state Senate, which has blocked malpractice caps in years past. A task force created by Gov. Jeb Bush is expected to recommend a series of actions today , including a $250,000 cap.
The Florida Medical Association plans to sink more than $2 million into the lobbying battle, with millions more likely available from the Florida Hospital Association, state Chamber of Commerce and the powerful Associated Industries of Florida. Likewise, the lawyers have millions to spend.
The size of the rally -- the medical society's largest event and its second protest rally -- proves that doctors feel strongly enough to abandon decorum and take to the streets, organizers said.
'I've never seen the physicians so united,' said Tenna Wiles, director of the medical society.
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(c) 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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