Legislative Victory

TAPA successfully lobbied for the passage of comprehensive medical lawsuit reforms.

Have Kept Texas’ Medical Liability Reforms

Intact thru 10 Legislative Sessions

Fended off attacks in the courts.

Filed 52 friend of the court briefs to preserve legislative intent.
Spent five years in court and $1.4 million in legal fees repelling two cap challenges in federal court.

Reforms are a key component in stopping the exodus of doctors - especially from our emergency departments - and attracting a record number of doctors to our state.

Today, Texas has more patient care physicians per capita than ever.

No matter how you measure it, Texas stacks up in attracting patient care physicians.

2nd in Raw Physician Growth
5th in Percentage Physician Growth
20th in Per Capita Physician Growth

Source: Association of American Medical Colleges 2008-2014, Active Patient Car Physicians (1). This is the only time frame for which comparative data is available on active patient care physicians.

Law Review cited in 26 Supreme Court and appellate opinions.

The scholarly article is widely regarded as a legislative intent road-map.
The Law Review has been cited in a combined 179 Supreme Court and appellate briefs.

Reducing the licensing logjam.

In 2007 TAPA successfully lobbied for an emergency appropriation and an increased biennial appropriation for the Texas Medical Board to hire licensing personnel.

Voters approve a constitutional amendment.

The TAPA membership contributed mightily and worked tirelessly in helping to pass Proposition 12, a constitutional amendment affirming Texas’ non-economic damage cap.

Effective reforms halt crisis.

In 2005, Texas became the first state to be removed by the American Medical Association’s list of states in medical liability crisis.
Subsequently, doctors returned to the ER and came to Texas in record numbers.

Real Reform: The Right Prescription for Health Care.

“The Texas Alliance for Patient Access was a galvanizing force behind the passage of Texas’ much-needed medical liability reforms.”

Rick Perry, former Governor of Texas

William Large, President of the Florida Justice Reorm Institute, spoke at TAPA Annual Meeting

Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion providing guidance on how courts should apply the periodic payments provision

Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of emergency room physician Dr. Kristy Marsillo on January 11,

Florida Doctors Pay Liability Premiums Four Times Greater than their Texas Counterparts

At its November annual meeting, a Florida tort reform advocate gave the TAPA membership a glimpse of what Texas’ medical liability landscape might look like if our Legislature substantially raised or eliminated the state’s non-economic damage cap. And the picture is horrifying.

William Large, President of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, spoke about how he helped pass a non-economic damage cap in his state and then saw it taken away by the Florida Supreme Court.

In 2003, in response to an access to medical care crisis, then-Governor Jeb Bush sought a cap on non-economic damages in medical liability cases to lessen liability insurance premiums and attract more physicians to the sunshine state. Florida passed a $500,000 cap for physicians and a $750,000 cap for hospitals and clinics, with the possibility of those amounts being increased in the event of special circumstances.

Houston's 14th Court of Appeals affirmed a healthcare provider's affirmative defense under the Pandemic Liability Protection Act in a pair of parallel cases. Both underlying cases arose from the death of a nursing home resident from COVID-19.

Thirty-two states, a significant majority, have granted healthcare workers and facilities limited liability protection in battling the COVID-19 outbreak, either through executive order or state law.

The willful and wanton standard in the Pandemic Liability Protection Bill mirrors the standard that applies in Good Samaritan law and in Texas' emergency care protections, which have been in force in our state since 2003.

These are the first Texas cases we have seen in which healthcare providers have invoked the Pandemic Liability Protection Act's heightened defenses in trial court only to be rebuffed.

ARTICLE LINK

Texas Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Emergency Room Doctor

The Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of emergency room physician Dr. Kristy Marsillo on January 11, concluding the plaintiff produced no evidence that her treatment of a snakebite was willfully and wantonly negligent, the required standard of proof in an emergency care case.

Thirteen-year-old Raynee Dunnick presented to Seton Medical Center Hays in Kyle with a rattlesnake bite on her left foot. Dr. Marsillo immediately implemented the hospital’s snakebite treatment plan, monitored the patient’s vital signs, repeatedly ordered blood work, and re-examined the severity of the injury to determine whether and when to administer antivenom.

August 8, 2024 Austin American-Statesman

By Sean Price Texas Medicine August/September 2023

Texas Civil Justice League April 27, 2023 AUSTIN - On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court found that a trial court improperly denied defendant health care providers an offsetting settlement credit in a medical malpractice suit that resulted in a $14 million judgment.

Nice try, New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham, but respectfully, no thank you.

August 8, 2024

Austin American-Statesman

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's clever ad campaign to lure Texas physicians and health care workers to New Mexico was creative, but it misses a few key points.

Texas doctors know there are many reasons why record numbers of physicians flock here year after year to practice medicine. Texas doesn’t need to advertise our many strengths.

First, Texas’ medical liability laws help ensure good physicians caring for Texans can practice without constant fear of a frivolous lawsuit ruining their career.

Second, our state recognizes patients deserve physician-led care.

Additionally, increasing numbers of quality medical schools and residency programs provide outstanding educational opportunities for aspiring physicians.

TMA Moment in Time: Medical Liability Reform on this 20th anniversary of tort reform, Texas physicians look back on the coalition that ended our-of-control lawsuits

By Sean Price

Texas Medicine August/September 2023

In 2002, David Cantu, MD, was the only Spanish-speaking physician in the Fredericksburg area delivering babies. But like many Texas physicians at that time, the family physician’s medical liability insurance premiums soared so high that he had to stop all obstetric services.

“Even though I was doing five or six deliveries per week, it was just barely making the overhead for the insurance - or less,” he said.

Some of Dr. Cantu’s patients could turn elsewhere. But many couldn’t because of the language barrier or because they had Medicaid coverage, and no other local physician could afford to take them.

Texas Civil Justice League

April 27, 2023

Austin Federal District Judge Lee Yeakel has dismissed a challenge to Texas’ cap on noneconomic damages in medical liability cases. Plaintiffs in Winnett, et al. v. Frank, et al. (No. 1:20-cv-01155-LY) contended that: (1) the Seventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution should be incorporated through the Fourteenth Amendment and made applicable to the states; and (2) Texas’ cap on noneconomic damages in health care liability claims violates the Seventh Amendment’s guarantee that the right to a jury trial shall be “preserved.” There has been a long-held view, supported by U.S. Supreme Court precedent, that the Seventh Amendment’s right to a jury trial does not apply to the states.

ARTICLE LINK

Despite claims by the trial lawyers, the threat of a lawsuit or a higher damage award has little to no association with improved healthcare quality and patient safety.

The ratio of patient-care physician's to Texas' overall population hit an all-time high in 2019.

Study finds no correlation between harsher medical liability laws and improved patient care

Despite claims by the trial lawyers, the threat of a lawsuit or a higher damage award has little to no association with improved healthcare quality and patient safety. The absence of a correlation was the key finding in a recently published study in the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled “Malpractice Liability and Health Care Quality.” The authors found no consistent relationship with patient outcomes in states with harsher tort laws.

Record Number of Doctors Arriving to Care for Texas Patients

Yes, we need more doctors, but our physician growth rate is actually quite impressive. The ratio of patient-care physicians to Texas' overall population hit an all-time high in 2019, according to data released by the Texas Department of State Health Services. But that's not really the good news. The best news is that the ratio has grown without interruption in each year of the past decade.

‍Former TAPA Executive Director Jon Opelt discusses the importance of protecting Texas’ 2003 landmark medical liability reforms. He notes that many of Texas’s newly minted doctors have cited the state’s more hospitable legal climate as a significant factor in their choosing to practice here. Passage of these reforms has substantially reduced lawsuits and liability costs and have increased the number of doctors practicing in the state; especially pediatric, geriatric, and high-risk specialists.

‍

THE DOCTOR IS IN

YOUTUBE VIDEO

READ THE ABSTRACT

Tim Seay, president of Greater Houston Emergency Room

By Ted Shaw The Texas Tribune (Online) April 20, 2015

More high-risk doctors are flocking to Texas

Tim Seay, president of Greater Houston Emergency Room

Physicians had grown accustomed to unsuccessfully begging physicians to come to the Houston area. That was before Texas passed health.

By Ted Shaw

The Texas Tribune (Online)

April 20, 2015

In 2003, Texas health care was in full-blown crisis. There were not enough physicians, particularly in high risk, hospital-based specialties, such as obstetrics, neurosurgery and trauma.

The Washington Post

November 4, 2015

A possible unintended consequence of one of health reform's biggest goals — curbing excess health care spending — could be a surge in malpractice lawsuits.

The following is a discussion of the Ross decision with Texas Supreme Court Justice Phil Johnson.

A letter to the editor in the August 22 edition of Syracuse.com notes that more than half of newly trained doctors are fleeing the State of New York.

Twelve years after its passage most elements of Texas' landmark medical lawsuit reforms have been upheld.

What is a health care liability claim in Texas?

Language in the 2003 reforms created a conundrum for lawyers, judges and health care providers when violations of safety standards were alleged. The Texas Supreme Court largely erased that confusion when it handed down the Ross v. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital decision May 1, 2015. The following is a discussion of the Ross decision with Texas Supreme Court Justice Phil Johnson.

Texas ranks second nationally in retention of in-state trained physicians

A letter to the editor in the August 22 edition of Syracuse.com notes that more than half of newly trained doctors are fleeing the State of New York.

The opinion piece reports that New York trains approximately 16,000 medical students each year. Only 45 percent of those newly-trained physicians choose to stay in-state to work.

Key Court Decisions since the Passage of Reforms

The law is what the courts say it is. Twelve years after its passage most elements of Texas' landmark medical lawsuit reforms have been upheld. Some of the medical liability provisions have been adjudicated at an intermediate court only. Click here for a chronology of the more significant decisions rendered by the courts.

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Florida Doctors Pay Liability Premiums Four Times Greater than their Texas Counterparts

At its November annual meeting, a Florida tort reform advocate gave the TAPA membership a glimpse of what Texas’ medical liability landscape might look like if our Legislature substantially raised or eliminated the state’s non-economic damage cap. And the picture is horrifying.

William Large, President of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, spoke about how he helped pass a non-economic damage cap in his state and then saw it taken away by the Florida Supreme Court.

Appeals Court Affirms Higher Negligence Standard for COVID-related Cases

Houston's 14th Court of Appeals affirmed a healthcare provider's affirmative defense under the Pandemic Liability Protection Act in a pair of parallel cases. Both underlying cases arose from the death of a nursing home resident from COVID-19.

Thirty-two states, a significant majority, have granted healthcare workers and facilities limited liability protection in battling the COVID-19 outbreak, either through executive order or state law.

The willful and wanton standard in the Pandemic Liability Protection Bill mirrors the standard that applies in Good Samaritan law and in Texas' emergency care protections, which have been in force in our state since 2003.

These are the first Texas cases we have seen in which healthcare providers have invoked the Pandemic Liability Protection Act's heightened defenses in trial court only to be rebuffed.

Texas Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Emergency Room Doctor

The Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of emergency room physician Dr. Kristy Marsillo on January 11, concluding the plaintiff produced no evidence that her treatment of a snakebite was willfully and wantonly negligent, the required standard of proof in an emergency care case.

Nice try, New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham, but respectfully, no thank you.

August 8, 2024

Austin American-Statesman

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's clever ad campaign to lure Texas physicians and health care workers to New Mexico was creative, but it misses a few key points.

Texas doctors know there are many reasons why record numbers of physicians flock here year after year to practice medicine. Texas doesn’t need to advertise our many strengths.

First, Texas’ medical liability laws help ensure good physicians caring for Texans can practice without constant fear of a frivolous lawsuit ruining their career.

Second, our state recognizes patients deserve physician-led care.

Additionally, increasing numbers of quality medical schools and residency programs provide outstanding educational opportunities for aspiring physicians.

TMA Moment in Time: Medical Liability Reform on this 20th anniversary of tort reform, Texas physicians look back on the coalition that ended our-of-control lawsuits

By Sean Price

Texas Medicine August/September 2023

In 2002, David Cantu, MD, was the only Spanish-speaking physician in the Fredericksburg area delivering babies. But like many Texas physicians at that time, the family physician’s medical liability insurance premiums soared so high that he had to stop all obstetric services.

“Even though I was doing five or six deliveries per week, it was just barely making the overhead for the insurance - or less,” he said.

Some of Dr. Cantu’s patients could turn elsewhere. But many couldn’t because of the language barrier or because they had Medicaid coverage, and no other local physician could afford to take them.

Federal Judge Dismisses Challenge to Caps on Non-economic Damages

Texas Civil Justice League

April 27, 2023

Study finds no correlation between harsher medical liability laws and improved patient care

Record Number of Doctors Arriving to Care for Texas Patients

‍Texas is adding new physicians faster than the population.

‍

‍Former Chair Lauded for Twenty Years of Service and Success

More high-risk doctors are flocking to Texas

Tim Seay, president of Greater Houston Emergency Room

Physicians had grown accustomed to unsuccessfully begging physicians to come to the Houston area. That was before Texas passed health.

Texas knows how to solve health care problems

By Ted Shaw

The Texas Tribune (Online)

April 20, 2015

In 2003, Texas health care was in full-blown crisis. There were not enough physicians, particularly in high risk, hospital-based specialties, such as obstetrics, neurosurgery and trauma.

Why health reform might increase malpractice lawsuits

The Washington Post

November 4, 2015

A possible unintended consequence of one of health reform's biggest goals — curbing excess health care spending — could be a surge in malpractice lawsuits.

What is a health care liability claim in Texas?

Texas ranks second nationally in retention of in-state trained physicians

A letter to the editor in the August 22 edition of Syracuse.com notes that more than half of newly trained doctors are fleeing the State of New York.

The opinion piece reports that New York trains approximately 16,000 medical students each year. Only 45 percent of those newly-trained physicians choose to stay in-state to work.

Key Court Decisions since the Passage of Reforms

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Austin, Texas 78729

512.703.2156

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TEXAS ALLIANCE FOR PATIENT ACCESS

6514 McNeil Drive, Suite 2-200

Austin, Texas 78729

512.703.2156

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