%0 Journal Article %1 Sloan1998 %A Sloan, F. A. %A Whetten-Goldstein, K. %A Stout, E. M. %A Entman, S. S. %A Hickson, G. B. %D 1998 %J Obstet Gynecol %K Birth Injuries; Cerebral Palsy; Female; Florida; Humans; Liability, Legal; Malpractice; Obstetrics; Pregnancy %N 3 %P 437--443 %T No-fault system of compensation for obstetric injury: winners and losers. %V 91 %X OBJECTIVE: To determine whether Florida's implementation of a no-fault system for birth-related neurologic injuries reduced lawsuits and total spending associated with such injuries, and whether no-fault was more efficient than tort in distributing compensation. METHODS: We compared claims and payments before and after implementation of a no-fault system in 1989. Data came from the Department of Insurance's medical malpractice closed claim files and no-fault records. Descriptive statistics were compiled for tort claims before 1989 and for tort and no-fault claims for 1989-1991. We developed two projection approaches to estimate claims and payments after 1989, with and without no-fault. We assessed the program's performance on the basis of comparisons of actual and projected values for 1989-1991. RESULTS: The number of tort claims for permanent labor-delivery injury and death fell 16-32\%. However, when no-fault claims were added to tort claims, total claims frequency rose by 11-38\%. Annually, an estimated 479 children suffered birth-related injuries; however, only 13 were compensated under no-fault. Total combined payments to patients and all lawyers did not decrease, but of the total, a much larger portion went to patients. Compensation of patients after plaintiff lawyers' fees rose 4\% or 44\%, depending on the projection method used. Less than 3\% of total payments went to lawyers under no-fault versus 39\% under tort. CONCLUSION: Some claimants with birth-related injuries were winners, taking home a larger percentage of their awards than their tort counterparts. Lawyers clearly lost under no-fault. Because of the narrow statutory definition, many children with birth-related neurologic injuries did not qualify for coverage.

@article{Sloan1998, abstract = {OBJECTIVE: To determine whether Florida's implementation of a no-fault system for birth-related neurologic injuries reduced lawsuits and total spending associated with such injuries, and whether no-fault was more efficient than tort in distributing compensation. METHODS: We compared claims and payments before and after implementation of a no-fault system in 1989. Data came from the Department of Insurance's medical malpractice closed claim files and no-fault records. Descriptive statistics were compiled for tort claims before 1989 and for tort and no-fault claims for 1989-1991. We developed two projection approaches to estimate claims and payments after 1989, with and without no-fault. We assessed the program's performance on the basis of comparisons of actual and projected values for 1989-1991. RESULTS: The number of tort claims for permanent labor-delivery injury and death fell 16-32\%. However, when no-fault claims were added to tort claims, total claims frequency rose by 11-38\%. Annually, an estimated 479 children suffered birth-related injuries; however, only 13 were compensated under no-fault. Total combined payments to patients and all lawyers did not decrease, but of the total, a much larger portion went to patients. Compensation of patients after plaintiff lawyers' fees rose 4\% or 44\%, depending on the projection method used. Less than 3\% of total payments went to lawyers under no-fault versus 39\% under tort. CONCLUSION: Some claimants with birth-related injuries were winners, taking home a larger percentage of their awards than their tort counterparts. Lawyers clearly lost under no-fault. Because of the narrow statutory definition, many children with birth-related neurologic injuries did not qualify for coverage.}, added-at = {2014-07-19T21:22:12.000+0200}, author = {Sloan, F. A. and Whetten-Goldstein, K. and Stout, E. M. and Entman, S. S. and Hickson, G. B.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2b12ca58b2461f5d9b5fd86c41d978078/ar0berts}, groups = {public}, interhash = {a587ad3e852aa8cc5424268fa9e90fc1}, intrahash = {b12ca58b2461f5d9b5fd86c41d978078}, journal = {Obstet Gynecol}, keywords = {Birth Injuries; Cerebral Palsy; Female; Florida; Humans; Liability, Legal; Malpractice; Obstetrics; Pregnancy}, month = Mar, number = 3, pages = {437--443}, pii = {S0029-7844(97)00705-9}, pmid = {9491874}, timestamp = {2014-07-19T21:22:12.000+0200}, title = {No-fault system of compensation for obstetric injury: winners and losers.}, username = {ar0berts}, volume = 91, year = 1998 }