Both sides of Nevada malpractice reform turn to real people

Both sides of Nevada's malpractice lawsuit reform debate are hoping real people will boost their case and cut through a dizzying array of numbers facing state lawmakers.

Legislators begin hearings on the issue Tuesday, and doctors affected by rising malpractice insurance premiums are set to testify on behalf of lawsuit reforms in SB97 and a nearly identical initiative petition.

Malpractice victims from Las Vegas and northern Nevada will voice opposition during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

The hearing follows escalating arguments by powerful doctor and lawyer lobbies about polling numbers, premium pricing, and other statistics. The back-and-forth rhetoric has been accompanied by a flurry of paperwork and conflicting studies.

"This should not turn into a debate about numbers," said Matt Sharp, president of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association. "We've got to talk about people."

Doctors are ready to do the same, said Scott Craigie, a lobbyist backing lawsuit reforms.

Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, said he'll be first looking for people from the insurance industry. The Judiciary Committee chairman plans to issue a legislative subpoena if no representatives from Nevada malpractice insurers show up to the hearing.

Amodei said no companies have yet told him their perspectives on the new proposals, which would strip away two exemptions to a $350,000 pain-and-suffering malpractice award cap enacted last year.

The proposals, modeled on a California law, would also limit lawyer fees and joint liability. The judiciary panel has compiled a "phone book-thick" briefing packet including pros and cons, Amodei said.

Dianne Meyer of Las Vegas is among those opposing the plans. The 59-year-old amputee is suing Summerlin Hospital and an emergency room doctor who she says misdiagnosed her large kidney stone in November, 2000.

Meyer was given painkillers and sent home after a late night hospital visit, but returned when body pains persisted.

She was then diagnosed with the kidney stone and sepsis, a severe bacterial infection that often sends patients into shock.

Doctors were forced to cut off Meyer's legs at the knees in order to save her health. She now has prosthetic limbs.

Meyer said she was offended that others could see her Las Vegas District Court lawsuit and similar actions as "frivolous."

"What part of my life is frivolous?" she asked, tears welling in her steel-blue eyes during a recent visit to the Legislature.

Craigie said Monday that testimony supporting the bills would come from doctors and others "who've felt the crushing effect of this health care crisis, whose lives on some level have been changed forever."

Also Monday, Assemblyman Garn Mabey, R-Las Vegas, released a list of former Las Vegas-area obstetrician-gynecologists who have quit delivering babies since the crisis began.

The former OB/GYN said a legislative analysis that found 335 new physician licenses were issued in Nevada last year was misleading, because it failed to break out medical specialists like obstetricians who have been harder hit by high insurance rates.

He said 36 Clark County OB/GYNs have quit delivering babies or closed their private practices entirely. Of those, three are working at University Medical Center.

"I just had to clear this up," Mabey said. Similar numbers were released last year by the Clark County OB/GYN Society.

Hearings on malpractice lawsuit reform continue Wednesday in Senate Judiciary.

Also, a malpractice insurance reform measure from Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, is set for a hearing Thursday in Senate Commerce and Labor. That bill, SB122, would give the state insurance commissioner new powers to prevent rate hikes and keep malpractice insurers in the state.