Medical Malpractice

Will Riley has extensive experience in medical malpractice and patients' rights cases. Our Indianapolis, Indiana firm's successes in medical malpractice/patient right cases include settlements in cases involving ophthalmology, osteopathy, cardiology, family practice, neurosurgery and hospital care. Currently, Mr. Riley is handling major medical malpractice cases involving:

• Neurosurgery
• Orthopedic surgery
• Hospital care
• Failure to diagnose breast cancer
• Failure to diagnose colon and rectal cancer
• Obstetrics

A substantial number of Mr. Riley's medical malpractice cases are sent to him by doctors or other attorneys who concentrate their practice in other areas and are aware of his experience with these types of claims. Claims arising from medical malpractice or a medical provider's mistakes in treatment of patients, diagnosis of illness, or surgical procedures often involve serious injuries. When mistakes are made by doctors, nurses, or hospital personnel, the claims are complicated and proof of liability is complex. Litigation of these claims requires a knowledgeable and experienced attorney. The firm treats each case as a new challenge not only to develop the legal claim but to understand, analyze and obtain forceful expert testimony essential to establishing liability. Mr. Riley consults with a board certified doctor on all medical malpractice claims. When handling a claim for medical negligence in Indiana, there are numerous procedures and deadlines that must be followed. If you are interested in learning more about whether you or a family member has a potential claim, please contact Mr. Riley. There is no charge to you unless there is a recovery in your case.

A claim against a health care professional in Indiana is controlled by laws that were promulgated by the Indiana General Assembly in 1975 by then Governor, and general practice physician, Otis Bowen, M.D. The medical malpractice system controls all aspects of claims against qualified health care in excess of $15,000.00. I.C. 34-18-1-1, et seq.

The Indiana legislature enacted a "cap" or limit on the maximum amount of damages that may be awarded to a malpractice victim. This "cap" allows recovery up to $1,250,000.00 in damages for malpractice that occurred after June 30, 1999. I.C. 34-18-14-3 (3). The maximum recoverable award for malpractice that occurred on or before June 30, 1999 is $750,000.

In a recent Indiana Supreme Court opinion, the Indiana Supreme Court declared a two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice victims unconstitutional as applied to the victim of undiagnosed breast cancer. Martin v. Richey, 711 N.E.2d 1273 (Ind.1999). Unlike most medical malpractice statutes of limitations, the Indiana law measured the limitations period from the time of treatment and not from the moment of reasonable discovery. In Martin, the Indiana Supreme Court declared the statute "unconstitutional... because it requires [a] plaintiff to file a claim before she is able to discover the alleged malpractice and her resulting injury, and, therefore, it imposes an impossible condition on her access to the courts and pursuit of her tort remedy." Id. at 1285. In this instance, the law worked an injustice because the plaintiff "could not reasonably be expected to discover the asserted malpractice and resulting injury within the two-year period given the nature of the asserted malpractice and of her medical condition." Id. at 1284. The Indiana Supreme Court rectified this injustice in Martin v. Richey.

Facts About the Current Medical Malpractice Debate

Tens of thousands of people die each year from preventable medical errors. But rather than reform the medical system to prevent needless deaths and injuries, doctors and big insurance companies are lobbying to limit the rights of injured patients to seek full recovery in the courts. Insurance companies and the medical groups are misleading the public about the causes of the rise in malpractice rates. Real health care and insurance industry reforms are needed that will protect patients' rights and lead to lower premiums for doctors.

Costs of Medical Negligence to Patients

• Between 44,000 to 98,000 Americans die in hospitals each year due to preventable medical errors. (Institute of Medicine, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, 2000.)
• The annual costs to society for medical errors in hospitals at $17 billion to $29 billion. (Institute of Medicine, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, 2000.)

Frequency of Medical Malpractice Claims

• Only one in eight preventable medical errors committed in hospitals results in a malpractice claim. (Harvard Medical Practice Study Group, Patients, Doctors and Lawyers: Medical Injury, Malpractice Litigation, and Patient Compensation in New York, 1990.)
• The number of new medical malpractice claims declined by about four percent between 1995 and 2000. There were 90,212 claims filed in 1995 and 86,480 claims filed in 2000. (National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Statistical Insurance Companies in 2000, 2001.)

Physicians' Costs of Medical Malpractice Insurance

• Malpractice insurance costs amount to only 3.2 percent of the average physician's revenues. (Official Transcript, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Public Meeting, December 12, 2002.)
• While medical costs have increased by 113 percent since 1987, the total amount spent on medical malpractice insurance has increased by just 52 percent over that time, less than half of medical services inflation. (Bureau of Labor Statistics - Medical Services CPI; Best's Aggregates and Averages.)
• The median medical malpractice payout by a physician to a patient rose 35 percent from 1997 to 2000, from $100,000 to $135,000. (National Practitioner Data Bank Annual Reports, 1997 through 2001.) But during the same time, the average premium for single health insurance coverage has increased by 39 percent. (Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust, Employer Health Benefits Surveys, 1998-2002; National Practitioner Data Bank Annual Reports, 1997 through 2001.)

Insurance Industry Economics Have Caused the Premium Price Spike

• "For several years, insurers kept prices artificially low while competing for market share and new revenue to invest in a booming stock market. As the bull market surged, investments by these historically conservative insurers rose to 10.6% in 1999, up from a more typical 3% in 1992. With the market now in a slump, the insurers can no longer use investment gains to subsidize low rates." (American Medical Association Report 35 of the Board of Trustees (A-02), available at: www.ama-assn.org/ama1/upload/mm/annual02/bot35a02.rtf.)
• Premiums charged do not track losses paid, but instead rise and fall in concert with the state of the economy. When the economy is booming and investment returns are high, companies maintain premiums at modest levels; however, when the economy falters and interest rates fall, companies increase premiums in response. (J. Robert Hunter, Americans for Insurance Reform, "Medical Malpractice Insurance: Stable Losses/Unstable Rates," October 10, 2002. See also: www.insurance-reform.org/StableLosses.pdf)

Small Number of Dangerous Doctors Commit Most Malpractice

• Only 5 percent of doctors (1 out of 20) are responsible for 54 percent of malpractice payouts. (National Practitioner Data Bank, Sept. 1, 1990 - Sept. 30, 2002.)
• Only 8 percent of doctors (1 out of 12) with 2 or more malpractice payouts have been disciplined by their state medical board. (National Practitioner Data Bank, Sept. 1, 1990 - Sept. 30, 2002.)

Only 17 percent of doctors (1 out of 6) who have made 5 or more malpractice payouts have been disciplined by their state medical board. (National Practitioner Data Bank, Sept. 1, 1990 - Sept. 30, 2002.)

Price Waicukauski & Riley, LLC
Class Action and Trial Attorneys
The Hammond Block Building
301 Massachusetts Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 317-633-8787
Toll Free: 800-905-2856
Fax: 317-633-8797