MINNEAPOLIS, December 6, 2007—A report in American Medical News suggests that favorable court rulings are reversing the trend of non-meritorious  medical liability lawsuits.

Three Ohio courts in six months, and a Louisiana court this past week, sanctioned plaintiff lawyers for pursuing unsupported claims against physicians. Judges awarded the physicians their legal expenses.

In each case the courts chastised the attorneys for misbehavior. Misdeeds included suing the wrong doctor; refiling a claim against a physician even though the plaintiff's expert withdrew his testimony the first time around; and having no expert testimony against one doctor yet failing to drop the case.

Minnesota sees fewer non-meritorious malpractice lawsuits than most states. Libby Lincoln, general counsel for The MMIC Group, attributes this to two factors:

"Aside from the fact that good medicine is practiced here, our state requirement of expert certification before a lawsuit is filed helps avoid the filing of totally unsupported claims.  Also, Minnesota generally has a good plaintiff malpractice bar that tends to do a good job of screening cases," Lincoln said.

"Aside from the fact that good medicine is practiced here, our state requirement of expert certification probably has a lot to do with the low frequency of non-meritorious claims.  Also, Minnesota has a good plaintiff malpractice bar that tends to do a good job of screening cases," Lincoln said.

Physicians are hoping that victories in these cases will dissuade lawyers from filing baseless claims.

An important step in each case was that doctors fought back in court against bad claims.  Sometimes it is enough that a physician threaten to countersue, and the attorney backs off.  When physicians fight back, only 11 percent of claims go forward.

Trial lawyers agree that punishment may be justified if an attorney maliciously pursues a case. But such conduct is rare, attorney spokesmen insist.

"There really is no moral or economic incentive for plaintiff lawyers to file frivolous cases" said Jeff Boyd, executive director of the Ohio Association. for Justice, the state trial lawyers organization. 

American Medical News article