Medical Liability Reform

Abstract

Mississippi enacted medical negligence and other tort reform legislation that generally became effective for causes of action filed on or after January 1, 2003, and September 1, 2004. Data regarding lawsuits against physicians insured by the Medical Assurance Company of Mississippi (MACM), the largest medical liability insurer in the state, and MACM-insured Obstetrician-gynecologists (ob-gyns) in particular, were compared by year from 1986 to 2010. The data encompassed the periods before and after the implementation of Mississippi's tort reform legislation. In addition, MACM medical liability premiums were compared by year from 2000 to 2010. Mississippi's tort reform laws were associated with a steep drop in lawsuits against MACM-insured physicians, particularly MACM-insured ob-gyns, as well as medical liability premium reductions and refunds.

Evaluative reports on medical malpractice policies in obstetrics: a rapid scoping review

“…Upon completion of title and abstract screening, 454 full-texts were deemed potentially relevant and reviewed. Subsequently, 14 documents fulfilled our eligibility criteria and were included [ 3 , 21 – 33 ].

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“…Eight cohort studies [ 23 – 25 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 32 , 33 ], four uncontrolled before-after reports [ 3 , 21 , 29 , 31 ], and two narrative reviews [ 22 , 26 ] were included. The reports were published between 2004 and 2015, and the majority (86%) were conducted in the USA [ 3 , 21 – 26 , 29 – 33 ] (Table 2 ). The majority of the documents included a small sample size (Table 3 ).…”

“…The majority of the documents included a small sample size (Table 3 ). The duration of follow-up for the included reports ranged from 2 to 17 years across eight reports and was not reported in six reports [ 3 , 21 – 23 , 27 – 29 , 31 ] (Table 3 ).…”

“…Three reports [ 3 , 21 , 33 ] reviewed state-level experiences with award caps on noneconomic (i.e., damages in medical malpractice cases for non-pecuniary harms such as pain and suffering) and punitive damages. Behrens [ 21 ] explored Mississippi’s tort reform legislation implementation in an uncontrolled before-after study comparing data regarding lawsuits against physicians insured by Medical Assurance Company of Mississippi (MACM) and MACM-insured obstetrician–gynecologists from 1986 to 2010. With a $500,000 limit on noneconomic damages, medical liability insurance premiums for MACM-insured physicians were both lowered and reimbursed.…”

“…Despite the reported high costs associated with medical malpractice litigation, very few documents evaluated models to reduce litigation. We identified 14 documents that evaluated medical liability reforms and quality improvement strategies [ 3 , 21 – 33 ]. Most of the literature is from the USA, which is likely because of the larger number of medical malpractice claims that occur per year in that country relative to other countries [ 35 ].…”