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It is not uncommon for proponents of “tort reform” to claim a direct linkage to the arena of medical malpractice lawsuits brought against doctors and a resulting shortage of physicians and escalating costs of health care, no matter how tenuous the connection. This month the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association weighed in on the public debate that’s going on in their state, with a timely letter to the editor that responded to an article titled“State faces doctor shortage in coming years, ISMS president warns.”

In that rebuttal, ITLA president Todd Smith writes that Illinois State Medical Society president Steven Malkin “draws false conclusions from incomplete factual representations.” In that original article, Dr. Malkin points to a future crisis of a physician shortage (in spite of the American Medical Association reporting that there has not ever been a decline in doctors in the state of Illinois for the last 45 years, Smith writes).

Smith also counters an ISMS statement that was intended to serve as a local illustration of the trend: “Dr. Malkin tried to tie malpractice suits to an inability to attract physicians to the Hillsboro area. According to the Montgomery County (Hillsboro) Court Clerk’s office there has only been 1 or 2 medical cases filed per year over the last 10 years. In 2010, one case was filed involving a physician’s care. There is no excuse for doctors having to pay high insurance premiums around Hillsboro. Those doctors should not be interested in malpractice lawsuit reform. They should be clamoring for insurance reform. It’s unfortunate that Dr. Malkin and your paper would allow such a misleading and false impression to be left with your readers, and doing so without carefully checking the facts.”

Those who advocate for tort reform the loudest are often the least consistent in their criticism of the current scope of that which needs to be reformed. And, this is not the first (or the last) time where the interests of medicine and money don’t align, and the media covers that conflict. ITLA’s role in drawing attention to an under-reported story should be commended, as telling the facts behind the real story is a watchdog role that, were it not filled by someone, would lead one to believe that medical professionals in the state of Illinois were soon expected to be a dying breed.

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