Patchwork approach to lawsuits unfair

Patchwork approach to lawsuits unfair

You hit the nail on the head in your Jan. 27 editorial (“Time to create malpractice stability”) in favor of nationwide medical liability reform. Our current patchwork approach to medical liability lawsuits has diminished patients’ access to health care and driven up costs for far too long, and I am relieved to see this issue again gaining more recognition.

Illinois physicians have always maintained that patients harmed by preventable medical errors are entitled to full compensation for their injuries, and damages for pain and suffering are a reasonable component of that compensation. But, as you point out in your editorial, the wide variation in amounts that can be awarded for pain and suffering and other noneconomic damages creates a climate of instability and unfairness between states. Bringing consistency to this aspect of our health care system would allow physicians to make important decisions about their practices on the basis of patient need rather than medical liability concerns.

There are some aspects of medical care that can vary by state, but damages for pain and suffering in medical liability cases should not be among them. By implementing a sensible limit on noneconomic damages nationwide, we can bring stability to our health care system and focus our resources where they should have been focused all along: on providing quality health care to patients, no matter what state they live in.

Steven M. Malkin, MD, FACP

President

Illinois State Medical Society

Arlington Heights