
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 9, 1993                   TAG: 9308090077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

LAWYERS PROTEST LIMITING AWARDS FOR MALPRACTICE GROUP CONTENDS RESTRAINTS

Health care reform is a good idea, but limiting damage awards to victims of medical malpractice is not the way to hold costs down, say lawyers attending the American Bar Association's annual meeting.

"I've never found any victim who has been seriously injured and believes that their damages should be limited to some arbitrary figure of $250,000," said Chicago personal-injury lawyer Philip H. Corboy.

"This is really a fight between consumers who happen to be victims of civil wrongs and the insurance companies representing the health care industry," Corboy said. "I know the complaint [from doctors]; they only have one Mercedes."

Many states in recent years have set limits on so-called non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Such damages are intended either to punish health-care providers who caused the injury or to compensate victims for non-financial losses such as pain and suffering. States do not limit actual financial losses, such as hospital costs and lost earnings.

For some people - such as a homemaker who is blinded - such non-economic damages are the main loss they suffer, Corboy said.

The ABA has long opposed limits on non-economic damages, and a working group released a report Sunday that said states with such limits are not seeing any overall drop in their health care costs.

"Caps on non-economic damages have not had the dramatic impact that supporters think," said Clifford D. Stromberg of Washington, chairman of the ABA's working group of health care reform.

Massachusetts and California, which do limit such damages, saw their per-capita health care costs double between 1982 and 1990, the report said. Per-capita costs rose by about 95 percent in Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi, which do not have limits.

Medical malpractice insurance premiums are less than 1 percent of overall health costs, while administrative costs are one-fourth of the overall health care tab, Stromberg said.

"So if you really want a bang for the buck, [administrative costs are] where you look for the reforms," he said.

Daniel Sevart of Wichita, Kan., said, "Caps on medical malpractice claims will make no significant impact on the cost of health care."

Only a small number of lawsuits result in large damage awards, Sevart said. The vast majority of medical malpractice cases are won by the defense or result in relatively small damage awards or settlements, he said.

by CNB