How would you describe the medical liability climate in a state where one out of every two doctors has recently been sued? That’s Pennsylvania, where almost 12,000 out of the 25,000 full time physicians were hit with medical liability lawsuits between 2002 and 2007. Most observers would consider it a crisis, but trial lawyers think it’s just fine, thank you, and are now pointing to a 4.4% premium cut by one insurance carrier as proof that the crisis, which they never admitted existed, is now over.

Dr. Elliott Menkowitz makes short shrift of their arguments in this oped, pointing out that most doctors aren’t covered by the carrier and in any case the savings are paltry compared to recent run-ups in yearly premiums, such as the $37,500 to $167,000 hike OBGYNs have seen in the last eight years.

Pennsylvania is in the midst of a medical liability death spiral, with not a single neurosurgeon to be found in all of affluent Chester Country and 14 maternity wards closing down in the city of brotherly love in the last decade. And, we should mention, Governor Ed Rendell, often talked about as a possible VP pick for the Democratic ticket, appears to be in complete denial about the situation.

Interestingly, of those 12,000 lawsuits recently filed against the state’s physicians, less than 200 were determined to be worth of further action by the state Medical Board. Governor, can you say “frivolous lawsuits?”