Battling Over Malpractice

Another skirmish erupted last week in the battle between lawyers and doctors over the skyrocketing cost of malpractice insurance. The spur was a suggestion made by the American Medical Association and other doctors' groups that medical malpractice cases be taken away from the courts. Instead, they would be decided by state boards that would have responsibility for disciplining doctors as well. The plan would also impose strict guidelines on damage awards, including a cap on noneconomic damages such as those for "pain and suffering."

Lawyers' groups quickly denounced the idea as unconstitutional, a threat to the rights of patients and maybe just a bit fishy. For one thing, doctors themselves would sit on the proposed boards, though only as a minority of the membership. Said Eugene Pavalon, president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America: "It strikes me as the equivalent of naming Ivan Boesky to head the Securities and Exchange Commission."