A Resolution expressing the position of the New Jersey State Bar Association on medical malpractice reform.

WHEREAS, the NJSBA Task Force on Medical Malpractice was formed last year and is actively engaged in review of this critical issue bringing together knowledgeable members of the Bar who represent clients on all sides of the issue including, but not limited to, doctors, hospitals, the insurance industry and injured patients; and

WHEREAS, the NJSBA has kept our members abreast of the latest medical malpractice developments through our newspaper, the New Jersey Lawyer, and communicated with State print and broadcast media; and

WHEREAS, the NJSBA has met with members of the State Legislature, Office of the Governor, the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, and members of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and affected interest groups; and

WHEREAS, a recent study by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the agency that manages New Jersey's judicial system, found: the number of malpractice cases filed dropped nearly 10% to 1,656, from 1,776 last year; the proportion of cases settled out of court declined to 44 percent from 47 percent; the percentage of malpractice complaints dismissed fell to 39 percent from 44 percent; and

WHEREAS, the AOC also reviewed malpractice cases that went to trial last year and found that of 205 cases where juries issued verdicts, they found for doctors and against plaintiffs in 151 cases. Of the 54 cases where juries found malpractice, damages awarded for economic and non-economic loss averaged $300,000, with 18 verdicts for $1 million or more, including three for $5 million or more. On the other hand, 12 verdicts were for $100,000 or less. About half the awards were for less than $300,000; and

WHEREAS, the role that insurance companies have played in escalating premiums and denying coverage must be closely examined since some have alleged that the dramatic increases in doctors' professional liability premiums is more the result of bad business decisions by insurers than losses due to malpractice verdicts; and

WHEREAS the possibility of separately addressing the unique concerns of practitioners in certain specialized and/or geographic areas to ensure their continued ability to serve the medical needs of particular patient populations must also be examined; and

WHEREAS, the State Senate has passed legislation which reduces the adult statute of limitations to two years, caps the financial responsibility of doctors at $300,000, and establishes a Medical Malpractice Insurance Liability Excess Fund to finance noneconomic loss claims capitalized with assessments on all attorneys licensed to practice law in New Jersey.

WHEREAS, the NJSBA believes that the legislation eliminates litigant rights which are a longstanding part of New Jersey's civil justice system, that there is no rational basis for taxing the thousands of lawyers in New Jersey who do not practice in the medical malpractice area to pay for harm caused by doctors; and that there is no conclusive evidence that the adoption of such caps will provide doctors with relief from high medical malpractice insurance premiums; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey State Bar Association that:

We strongly oppose the $50.00 annual assessment on members of the bar to fund the Medical Malpractice Insurance Liability Excess Fund; caps on non-economic loss; and eliminating the of the two year statute of limitations for the discovery of medical malpractice as the cause of the injury; and

Be It Further Resolved That:

The Legislature and/or the Governor shall appoint with deliberate speed a study commission made up of all interested parties, including members of the public to immediately undertake consideration of the many facets of this difficult problem, with real solutions that enable doctors to continue seeing patients while allowing injured parties to seek redress in the courts prior to the institution of legislative reforms;

And, Let It Be Declared:

That a copy of this resolution shall be published in the Minutes of the New Jersey State Bar Association Board of Trustees, distributed to New Jersey's public officials, the New Jersey Lawyer and New Jersey Law Journal newspapers, and be transmitted to the county bar associations.

GIVEN, under my hand and the Seal of the New Jersey State Bar Association, this twenty-eighth day of April in the year of Our Lord two thousand and three and of the Independence of the United States, the two hundred and twenty-seventh.