Med Mal News

Doctors for Medical Liability Reform (DMLR), a coalition of medical practitioners that lobbies for medical malpractice reform, has produced what it terms a “mini documentary” about the medical malpractice liability situation for public dissemination. The group is asking the public to view the video, available at http://www.protectpatientsnow.org/site/c.8oIDJLNnHlE/b.981429/k.CC32/Home.htm, then, if they agree with it, to pass it along to ten more people. “By spreading the word to your friends, family, neighbors and colleagues, you can help end medical lawsuit abuse,” says the Web site release. Among the claims made are that doctors are being forced out of practice by rising liability costs and that patients are thereby losing access to care. The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) has taken issue with the claims made in DMLR's video, stating in a release that although the video is “billed as a 'mini-documentary,' it's more like pulp fiction – dramatic and scary but not very truthful. The video repeats the widely-debunked myths the insurance and pharmaceutical companies make to lobby for changes in the law to allow them to be unaccountable to patients.” The ATLA's counterarguments can be viewed at http://www.atla.org/pressroom/FACTS/health/DMLR.pdf.