Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in the New York is facing a medical malpractice crisis.
They have eleven obstetricians who deliver 2,700 at risk babies per year to “many poor women whose pregnancies are risky because they are teenagers or have diabetes, high blood pressure of other medical problems”.
They currently are able to purchase only $1.3 Million of malpractice coverage, and they each pay $177,000 to $190,000 per year for that paltry coverage. And, their carrier has said they will not renew because of the claims activity.
Neighboring hospitals cannot absorb 2,700 high risk births and the doctors have no real choice to but cease deliveries and/or move on to another hospital.
What will we do when Neurologists, Orthopedists, Pediatricians and other specialists refuse to perform any high risk life saving operations because of their fear of failure and subsequent malpractice litigation?
We need Medical Malpractice reform. We should pay for true economic losses and cap the non economic items such as pain and suffering. This is a problem that can be solved and solved very quickly and painlessly.
See comments at another site for further malpractice thoughts and information
