Five Awards Presented at 2005 MSDC Annual Meeting

DC Doctors to Call on Council Members to Address the City's Escalating Medical Liability Crisis

WHAT:

White Coat Rally and Press Conference on the morning of important medical liability reform hearings at the DC City Council.  Doctors throughout the city will hold a rally outside the Wilson Building to call attention to the growing crisis of rising medical liability insurance premiums in the District of Columbia and to support Mayor William’s Health Care Reform Act of 2005.         

Rising medical liability insurance premiums will soon force many physicians out of the practice of medicine entirely. Currently, OB/GYNs, neurosurgeons and emergency physicians are being hit the hardest by premium increases, but all physicians are seeing substantial increases in their premiums. As medical liability insurance premiums continue to rise, the public and policymakers face a choice: reasonably limit awards or face a crisis in patient access to health care. Without reform, the District will see further reductions in medical services, adding to an already severely stressed healthcare delivery system.

The Health Care Reform Act of 2005 will help stabilize malpractice premiums and help keep doctors in the District by providing caps on pain and suffering for claims against physicians and hospitals, placing limits on attorney contingency fees and calling for greater oversight of the insurance industry. 

PARTICIPANTS WILL INCLUDE:

• Mayor Anthony Williams
• Dr. Damian Alagia, President, Medical Society of the District of Columbia
• Dr. Walter Faggett, President, Medico Chirurgical Society of DC (Med Chi)

WHEN:

Thursday, December 1:  Rally 10:00 am ET/ Hearing 11:00 am ET

WHERE:

The Wilson Building Sidewalk, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004