Wednesday, January 29, 2003

By ANGELA RUCKER
Courier-Post Staff
CHERRY HILL

A dozen New Jersey residents who say the work of incompetent doctors devastated their lives have added their voices to the fractious debate over putting a ceiling on medical malpractice awards.

Many fought back tears as they spoke at the Cherry Hill Hilton on Tuesday at an event hosted by the state's trial lawyers. They too are opposed to the caps on noneconomic damages that are supported by physicians grappling with rising medical liability insurance costs in the state.

The national issue is coming to a head here: Thousands of New Jersey physicians are expected to participate in a work stoppage next week to protest insurance rates that have doubled and, in some cases, tripled in the last year.

Kellie Rollins of Willingboro looked up from her prepared statement after a few sentences, to speak from the heart. The proposed $250,000 cap wouldn't be enough for her 4-year- old daughter Kelsey, she said. Rollins said negligent prenatal care left Kelsey with Down syndrome, hearing loss, blindness and seizures.

Tuesday was the four-year anniversary of the death of Eileen Rabatin's husband, Carmelo. The Atco woman said her husband, who was 44, died after receiving a paralytic drug instead of morphine when he was in the hospital for a back fracture.

"I'm still devastated. They say it gets easier, but I don' t believe it does," she said.

Vietnam veteran George Schaefer of Lindenwold contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion during treatment for a wound. He said his doctor failed to properly treat him after an approved medication came on the market in 1991.

"This has turned my family upside down," said the 50-year- old. "This has put me out of work."

These patients and their lawyers say tinkering with laws governing medical lawsuits should steer clear of caps, and instead focus on patient safety.

"You have to know that doctors have misdiagnosed the problem in New Jersey," said Michael S. Berger, a Haddonfield attorney who is past president of the state Association of Trial Lawyers.

He said the typical jury award was $125,000 between 1990 and 2001, and that the number of malpractice cases has dropped in the state since 1994.

Berger also said New Jersey ranks 29th in the nation when it comes to punishing doctors.

"The answer," he said, "is to prevent malpractice."

Doctors see things differently.

"What it really comes down to is the medical malpractice system is broken and we've identified ways to fix it," said John Shaffer, a spokesman for the Medical Society of New Jersey. "The personal liability lawyers are doing everything they can to forestall any action."

Doctors insist they want patients to be justly compensated for economic damages, which cover future medical care.

"`Pain and suffering' is done at the whim of the jury and it's usually set at the highest amount that an attorney thinks he can get. It's the noneconomic damages that break the bank," Shaffer said.

Doctors in West Virginia, Florida and Mississippi have walked off their jobs in protest. And, New Jersey physicians will take similar action on Monday.

A state Senate committee debating measures to reduce the financial burden on doctors has so far failed to come up with a solution.

The sticking point is the $250,000 cap. Other measures up for debate would reduce the statute of limitations for birth-injury cases, increase scrutiny of doctors and insurers, apply stringent qualifications for expert witnesses and require prelitigation talks between the parties.

New Jersey physicians had already succeeded in making the legislative debate real for patients with testimonials, appeals at doctor's offices and, just recently, newspaper advertisements.

Tuesday was the attorney's turn. Their clients said they lost spouses, children, employment and sanity because of bad medical care. And, nearly all said there was no price any jury could put on their's or a loved one's injury or death.

Rollins said a $250,000 cap would amount to about $5 a day for her young child.

"As a parent, if I were to do anything to injure my child ... I would be held accountable," she said. "Five dollars a day to me is an insult."

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Reach Angela Rucker at (856) 486-2459 or