AMERICA’S LITIGATION BOOM LEAVES PREGNANT MOTHERS AMONG THE VICTIMS

Insurance for Obstetricians also Dangerously high in Canada   LAS VEGAS, May 15, 2002 (LSN.ca) – One area being affected by America’s litigation boom is health care, and the cost of malpractice insurance for doctors, especially obstetricians. One of the “high risk” operations that is being abandoned by doctors across the country due to the cost of insurance is the delivery of children. In California, due to state legislation, this trend is also impacting the availability of midwives.  “In Las Vegas, a doctor who delivers fewer than 125 babies a year would pay between $40,000 to $80,000 in insurance,” reported Fox news yesterday. “Delivering 125 to 175 babies would raise the premium to over $100,000.” The increase in insurance premiums seems warranted. “According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the ‘median medical liability award jumped 43% in one year, from $700,000 in 1999, to $1 million in 2000; it has doubled since 1995’.” The average award in cases involving a “neurologically impaired infant” is close to $1 million, “but a recent award in Philadelphia reached $100 million,” reported Fox. “The typical ACOG member will be sued 2.53 times during his or her career.”“As a result, most cities with populations under 20,000 no longer have doctors who deliver babies. Medical care is even scarcer in rural areas.” While troubled parents, lawyers and juries struggle to divine the difference between justice and greed, the number of victims in the form of pregnant women and their children mounts.  Regarding the situation in Canada, a Medical Post article in April says, “Canadian doctors have had it relatively easy so far. Specialities now paying the highest rates, such as obstetrics, orthopedics and neurosurgery, probably find that statement ludicrous, but compared with what’s going on in the U.S., it’s true. But the lack of any progress whatsoever in tort reform in this country has caused — and will continue to cause — anxiety about the future of affordable medical malpractice protection. Costs have increased steadily over the past several years, particularly to cover legal actions arising from medical work done in Ontario.”  See:  https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52684,00.html https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cjm_21.htm https://www.medicalpost.com/mdlink/english/members/medpost/data/3813/12A.HTM   US PRO-LIFE DOCTOR ORDERED TO PAY $1.8 MILLION https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/apr/99040604.html