An Imaginary Crisis

One irony is that the spellbinding trial lawyers-supposedly adept at hoodooing juries into "out-of-control" awards-failed to motivate voters. Tort "reformers" found success with powerful shorthand phrases like "lawsuit abuse" and "victim culture." They stoked outrage with urban myths about greedy coffee-spillers winning millions. The same year that Texas legislators crafted Prop. 12, West Virginia underwent a "doctor strike." Primed by a Republican-led hearing entitled "Harming Patient Access to Care: The Impact of Excessive Litigation," and urged on by the American Medical Association, many West Virginia doctors staged a "strike" in January 2003. The strike coincided with President [George W. Bush]'s mention of malpractice caps during his State of the Union address. West Virginia Republican legislator Joe DeLong said doctors had done a fine job of "turning their insurance problems into an antilawyer issue." [Bernard Black]'s study also revealed the claims' disconnect with prices charged by Texas malpractice insurers. While the state's malpractice insurance rates rose 135 percent from 1999 to 2003, the number of claims paid didn't mirror the increase. Instead, claims fell, both in "per doctor" numbers and in cost, Black's data showed. The percentage of big-claim payouts, those over $1 million-awards that might lead to a premium hike-turned out to be a consistent 6 percent of all claims over the same years. Texas doctors' insurance hikes apparently weren't caused by lawsuits.