Problems with Medical Malpractice Lawsuits in Illinois

“I thought it was important to come down here to find out what’s going on and how we can fix it,” Flowers told reporters.

As chairwoman of the Illinois House Health Care Availability and Access Committee, Flowers said she knows it is time for action on the chronic statewide health care problems caused by soaring malpractice insurance rates, unaffordable prescription drugs and a growing number of people without health insurance.

“I am here to listen,” Flowers said, but others saw her as a beacon in a gathering storm.

She had plenty to hear. Nearly 400 people packed into the conference rooms at John A. Logan College with 47 of them giving testimony. They were doctors, hospital administrators, patients, mayors and concerned citizens.

They told stories, quoted facts, and made impassioned pleas to Rep. Flowers to tell legislators in Springfield that the cost of medical malpractice insurance is the greatest threat to health care in the region.

Marsha Ryan, MD, general surgeon, Carbondale, recounted the many years of hard work by all hospitals and doctors in the region to develop the advanced medical services now available in southern Illinois. ( See Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawyers resource.) She lamented the cost to patients and the economy if all that work is lost. However, her insurance rates are now more than her income. She said some believe a sensible, bipartisan answer is not possible.

“I beg you, prove them wrong,” she said to Flowers. Ryan received a standing ovation for her remarks.

Terrence Glennon, MD, said it is time to bring everyone to the table and work out a reasonable solution to the malpractice insurance crisis. “There isn’t a doctor in this room that doesn’t want to weed out bad doctors,” he said. However, fear of lawsuits and rising insurance is driving good doctors out of practice.

Barb Livingston, a Carbondale resident, described getting emergency neurosurgery at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. She said it saved her eyesight. What if a neurosurgeon had not been available? It could happen.

Robert Streuter, Murphysboro, a one-time member of the St. Joseph Memorial Hospital board, told about his heart surgery. “I was relieved to find a high quality heart team in Carbondale,” he said. However, post operatively doctors found a tumor in his brain. Luckily, a neurosurgeon was available for emergency surgery. “I also stayed 11 days in an excellent ICU. I am grateful to the entire MHC team,” he said, adding that the availability of these services saved his life. “And now this team is in jeopardy.”

Neurosurgeon Sumeer Lal, MD, told Flowers that he will not be able to stay in southern Illinois without some sort of liability insurance relief. His prediction came true just two weeks later when he and Theo Mellion, MD, the only other neurosurgeon in southern Illinois, announced they would be closing their practice by July of this year.

Douglas Gates, MD, had just delivered a baby before coming to the hearing. He told the panel that it has been a privilege for him to deliver over 2,669 babies in southern Illinois. However, malpractice insurance is threatening his practice and many other obstetricians. His insurance company informed him this year that his rates will increase 300 percent.

Donald Bishop, MD, echoed Gates. Bishop, whose family has been in southern Illinois for over 150 years, described the sacrifice for him and his family as he worked through medical school. From humble beginnings he worked tirelessly until, at age 40, he finally earned the privilege of being an obstetrician. Bishop has not forgotten where he began and said he has gone out of his way to help underserved mothers.

“I have made access to health care the primary issue of my practice,” he said. “I have treated everyone from free care to indigent women to specialty care for the affluent.” But now his insurance rates went from $65,000 a year to $175,000. With insurance so high, he had to join a group of doctors and close his practice.

“My solo practice and in-office day care is history,” he said.

Carbondale serves most of the poor mothers in the southern 17 counties of Illinois. They and their babies are the ones who really suffer from this crisis, he said. “On behalf of these women I ask you for help.”

Many others testified, including mayor Brad Cole, Carbondale, who expressed his deep concern for the economic impact to the region if one of its largest employers, health care, falters.

Joseph Rubelowsky, MD, described a personal experience with a patient to show how precious the connection between doctor and patient is and that the threat of litigation is driving them apart. The hearing ran two hours over the scheduled time and Flowers said she would let everyone who wished to speak have a turn.

Flowers listened intently, nodded agreement often, and expressed her support. “I have heard you,” she said, promising to return to Springfield with the message to do something about the mounting health care crisis. “You will hear from us, very soon. I promise,” she said.

Sen. Luechtefeld agreed. “This is serious. We have to do something now.” He emphasized his points by tapping the table with his hand. “We have to get this fixed this year. You can’t tip toe around this.” He pointed to the audience. “You have to demand something be done,” he said, adding that he would do the same.

Woolard, speaking for the governor’s office, said this issue was about saving services for the people of southern Illinois and the rest of the state. “Southern Illinois is at risk, that is the message we have to say today,” he said, promising he would take that message to the governor.

The trip by Flowers to southern Illinois was sponsored by Southern Illinois Healthcare and, in part, prompted by recent announcements that PIC Wisconsin, the largest malpractice insurer in the area, would no longer cover doctors in Jackson, Cook, Madison, St. Clair, Will, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Vermillion counties because the high prevalence of lawsuits in those counties has escalated the medical malpractice crisis.

Last year it paid $5 million more in claims than in premiums it collected. With the departure of PIC Wisconsin, many area physicians are scrambling for new insurance coverage and facing as much as 200 percent increases.

Theo Mellion, MD, and Sumeer Lal, MD, the only two neurosurgeons in the area, have said they will close their practice due to the malpractice climate. However, Flowers said malpractice is only one part of the chronic health care problems in the state.

“We are dealing with a health care system that has been basically unchanged for 50 years,” she said. “Yet, the landscape of health care delivery has changed tremendously. We’ve been dealing with the problems by patchwork when we need to address the whole health care system.”

Note: Since this hearing Governor Blagoevich has said he will ask the General Assembly to craft malpractice reform legislation and pass it this legislative session.