MD. DOCTORS PROTEST MED MAL RATES:
Leaders from MedChi, Maryland’s state medical society, Gov. Ehrlich and other elected officials, joined AMA President Donald J. Palmisano, as he spoke to thousands of Maryland physicians in front of the state capitol about the crisis confronting patients and the medical community. He noted that doctors, especially those in high-risk specialties, are seeing their medical liability insurance premiums reach “staggering heights,” inducing some of them to leave the state. Palmisano pointed to 19 “crisis states,” where physicians are taking early retirement, or abandoning high-risk services, because they cannot afford or find liability insurance. He identified Maryland as one of 25 states the AMA has identified as being on the verge of joining those 19 crisis states. In addition, the AMA is lobbying for national reforms to end the medical liability crisis, including a cap on non-economic damages.