The medical liability crisis: the New York experience

The past 15 years have not been easy for the doctors who manage Medical Liability Mutual. There have been many frustrations and setbacks, and at times the predictors of doom for MLMIC seemed to be correct. Despite all the difficulties, the board of directors has never deviated from its original basic principles: (1) to attempt to settle meritorious claims rapidly and to resist totally those claims without merit; (2) to invest funds with caution and prudence, while achieving the best possible return on that investment; (3) to reduce medical injury and enhance patient safety; and (4) to make every effort to change a system that does not serve the public and threatens our health care system. The next five years may well be even more hectic than the past 15 have been. We do not know the reasons for the recent apparent improvement, and the situation may well deteriorate again. It is to be hoped that major changes that will benefit the public as a whole will occur, and that in the future the concerns of professional liability will not consume as much of our time and resources as they do at present.