Lawyers and doctors battle over malpractice costs
(2/20/02 Capitol News Service, FL) By Victoria Langley

Victims of medical malpractice squared off with doctors at the State Capitol today. The fight is over medical mistakes, and who should pay the price.

Wayne Portch had to have both his legs and some fingers amputated after a doctor mis-diagnosed his ruptured intestine. He's among a group of people fighting to keep the state from limiting the amount of money you can win in a medical malpractice lawsuit against your doctor.

"The money is not the issue," Portch said Wednesday. "People have got to be held accountable when they make a mistake."

Lawyers say medical mistakes kill 98-thousand people nationwide. But doctors say the high price of malpractice insurance is killing their business. They're rallying at the Capitol to ask lawmakers to reign in the cost of insurance. Hundreds of doctors arrived on a chartered jet to say lawsuits have made malpractice insurance in Florida the most expensive in the country.

"It hurts patients because doctors in specialties of importance - obstetrics, neurosurgery - are either cutting back or not taking high-risk cases or they are quitting the practice, or they are leaving the state of Florida," said Dr. Edwin Hamilton, president of the Broward County Medical Association.

The doctors say it is all about money for greedy lawyers. But the lawyers disagree. They crashed the doctors rally along with some victims to make their point.

"Victims of medical practice need attorneys to pursue their claims to seek just compensation when they've been wronged by medical errors," said Mark Clark with the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.

Caught in the middle - the patients and loved ones left behind, hoping their voices will also be heard above the fight between two of the states most powerful interest groups.

The doctors and lawyers are also on opposite sides of a battle that would exempt some medical mistakes from public records laws. House Bill 875 would let doctors keep the so-called "adverse incident reports" private. The bill passed one committee unanimously but must clear two more before it hits the house floor for a vote.