From the Register Herald. Thurs. Nov. 21, 2002. Bev Davis. Hospital administrators, physicians and House Speaker Bob Kiss, D-Raleigh, were keynote speakers Wednesday during a CARE Coalition rally co-sponsored by Beckley-ARH and Raleigh General Hospital at the Raleigh County Armory in Beckley.

Speaking in tandem, each presented views about proposed civil justice reform, which some believe is the major remedy for the problem.

"Members of the CARE Coalition are committed to maintaining the availability of health care services and ensuring that all West Virginians have access to physician services when and where they need it," said Tony Gregory, director of communications for the West Virginia Hospital Association. "Our organization has joined together in supporting doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, other health care providers and all West Virginians in the need for medical liability reform."

Members of the coalition, which was organized in October, are traveling throughout the state educating the public about their perspective of medical liability concerns and solutions.

"We represent a diverse group of health care and business organizations that have come together in support of medical liability reform," Gregory said.

He said the goal of the group's efforts is to make sure the state's residents understand the nature of the medical malpractice issues and the impact a loss of physicians will have on the future of health care if those issues are not resolved.

"We want people to understand they are at risk for not having physician services and medical care when they are most in need of help. That scary proposition is a potential reality."

The group's efforts also include highlighting gaps in the medical liability system and encouraging citizens and the health care community to work together for tort reform.
Rocco Massey, interim community CEO of B-ARH, said the loss of physicians because of rising malpractice insurance premium costs, coupled with rising health care costs and dwindling reimbursements from private insurers, makes West Virginia a physician-unfriendly state.

"The combination of all these issues makes it increasingly difficult for hospitals to retain services and provide the community with access to the quality of health care you have come to expect," Massey said.

Former West Virginia Medical Association President and Beckley psychiatrist Dr. A.D. Faheem listed the types of civil justice reform CARE hopes to see during the next legislative session. They include:

- Limits on the settlement an attorney can receive so more of the award goes to the patient rather than to the attorney.
- A requirement that doctors who testify in medical liability cases be experts in the field of medicine in which they are testifying.
- Placement of monetary limits on non-economic damages for pain and suffering.
- Holding health care providers responsible in medical liability cases only for the amount of damages for which they are at fault. This would prevent those who are not a faulty from paying for injuries for which they are not responsible.
- Disclosure to the court that other insurers have already paid for a plaintiff's injuries so that people who sue do not get paid more than once for the damages.
- Placement of limits on liability in cases where patients are treated in an emergency setting unless there is clear evidence of negligence or wrongful conduct.

Brian Bickles, CEO of Plateau Medical Center in Oak Hill who has been in West Virginia only two months, said the malpractice insurance problem is a nationwide issue, but from his perspective, is worse in West Virginia.

"When I was in New Mexico, I had a field day recruiting physicians from West Virginia. Now, I have a much more difficult time trying to recruit physicians to West Virginia from other states," Bickles said.

Some of the tort reform measures CARE wants have been enacted in New Mexico, and they work, he said.

"One of the first shocks I had when I came here was the high cost of malpractice insurance premiums. Our premium has tripled in one year. Will civil justice reform fix it all? Probably not, but you have to start somewhere."

Kiss said he has met with the coalition and supports some of its proposals for changes in laws that govern malpractice suits. However, he cautioned against looking for one quick fix to the multi-faceted problem.

"I do not believe - based on the information we have reviewed over the last year - that the passage of all of these civil justice reforms will reduce insurance premiums, but I do believe it will stop the rate of growth of those costs," Kiss said.

Citizens cannot look solely to the Legislature to solve the problem, he said.

"This battle is fought on many battlefields, and you could win in the Legislature and still lose the war."

Laws passed are interpreted and acted upon by the judicial and executive branches, and those decisions are not predictable, Kiss said.

"You need to become more informed about the elected judges and the different politicians and what their stand is on these issues. I think it is critically important for everyone to get involved. Maybe the next time we deal with this issue, the legislators will hear what they did not hear before from the citizens of this state."

Raleigh General Hospital CEO Karen Bowling spoke of the impact of the malpractice dilemma on community health care and closed the meeting by encouraging those present to contact legislators by filling out cards urging medical liability reform.

"I am grateful to Gov. Bob Wise and to our legislators for what they have done already, but if we are to keep our doctors in West Virginia and to continue to provide good quality health care in all of the specialties we need to offer, we need additional changes, and I urge each of you to do what you can to make that happen," she said.