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Company News: TouchPoints

Tennesseans of all Political Persuasions Favor Limiting Jury Awards in Medical Malpractice Cases

A recent state-wide study of Tennesseans revealed that over 60% favor limiting "pain and suffering" payouts when doctors or hospitals are sued for medical malpractice.  This suggests grass-roots support for a tort reform bill currently pending in the Tennessee state legislature. 

"This survey is a fair snapshot of adults in our state, and it shows most of our citizens understand how high jury awards - or the threat of them - affect rising healthcare costs and their access to their doctor," said Tennessee Medical Association president-elect Michael Minch, M.D.

The study, which was commissioned by the Tennessee Medical Association and conducted by Catalyst Healthcare Research was done in March and included a total of 620 Tennessee residents.  The margin of error for overall results is +/- 4% at a 95% confidence level.

"Interestingly, support for tort reform actually increases 72% as age goes up," said Dan Prince, president of Catalyst Healthcare Research.  "Since older Americans tend to consume most of the medical resources, some people will be surprised by this finding."

The state-wide study also found:

• 90 percent of Tennesseans said that they were "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about doctors leaving the state or closing their practice due to the high costs of medical malpractice insurance or fear of lawsuits.
• 88 percent are concerned about the shrinking number of obstetricians due to the high price of medical malpractice insurance.
• 63 percent feel that increasing medical costs are being driven by "defensive medicine" as doctors order extra and sometimes unnecessary tests to protect themselves against being sued. 

For more details on the survey, click here.