"We need tort reform and we need it now," Nassau County Medical Society President Dr. Vincent Geraci shouted from a microphone during a rally at Eisenhower Park May 20. "For too long, medicine has been burdened with the specter of malpractice. For too long, society has been deceived by this broken system. For too long has a small segment of the legal profession lined their pockets at the expense of those who suffer unfortunate outcomes."

His colleagues, all of whom practice medicine throughout the county, cancelled their afternoon appointments to tote signs that warned of threatened patient care and ever-increasing liability costs.

"The old argument that lawsuits discipline physicians and provide for the victims of malpractice was never any good in the first place and it's even less true today," Geraci continued. "It's hard to argue that taking 30 percent off the top, after expenses are paid, is the pinnacle of altruistic behavior on the part of our legal profession. The altruism stops where the buck starts here."

Claiming skyrocketing liability verdicts are driving doctors out of practice in New York State, rally goers pled for a balance and encouraged legislators to follow the example of other states like California, which currently has a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering awards.

Chris McGrath, a Mineola lawyer and second vice president of the Nassau County Bar Association, thinks this plea for change is nothing more than doctors striving to limit their responsibility for their own wrongdoing. "In society, people have to be responsible for their own acts or failure to act when they should act. To limit pain and suffering to $250,000 is absurd," he said.

"Doctors are paying a lot of money to lobbyists to contribute to a lot of political campaigns. I don't believe the people are going to put up with that because the victims have to be heard in this ... These are catastrophic injuries based on the worst kinds of mistakes that anybody could ever make," McGrath continued. "It's sad because these victims can't get out there and rent parks because they're too busy suffering from a doctor's malpractice. To limit someone's pain and suffering, including the loss of enjoyment of that person's life, to $250,000 is ridiculous. Doctors should be punished for what they're doing."

Senator Kemp Hannon, who was attending Senate sessions in Albany, sent a letter supporting the rally. In part, Hannon stated, "New York State currently has one of the most expensive medical malpractice systems in the country ... Malpractice costs are eating up an even larger portion of the New York State health care budget.

"This funding could be more effectively spent on programs that actually deliver health care to New Yorkers instead of on insurance costs. Something must be done to address the cost of malpractice insurance to ensure the viability of New York State's health care system. As such, I am supportive of ... the goal of meaningful tort reform. Rest assured I will continue to support and work toward medical malpractice in this state," Hannon, chair of the Senate Health Committee, concluded.

The New York State Trial Lawyers Association's third ad in its public education campaign, states "They Call It Tort Reform, We Call It Tampering With The Jury." By a vote of 229-196, the US House of Representatives passed H.R.5, a bill the association dubbed "anti-patient" because it "eliminates joint and severe liability and imposes a one-year statute of limitations on most cases, among many dangerous, discriminatory and unfair measures."

Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy had this to say when the House passed the Medical Malpractice Reform Bill this past March: "The legislation is not real and effective medical malpractice reform, but a bill that protects HMOs and insurance companies, and endangers victims of medical mistakes. For these reasons, I voted against the legislation."

According to McCarthy's office, the Senate has not yet acted on the legislation and apparent negotiations between the Senate Majority Leader and several Democrats, including Senator Feinstein of California, collapsed.

"As a nurse, I understand all too well the high cost of malpractice insurance and recognize the crisis that it is creating in our healthcare system, particularly in areas of high-risk procedures," McCarthy added.

If given the chance to amend the legislation, McCarthy would have proposed limiting the amount of time during which a patient could file a medical malpractice action to no later than three years from the date of injury, or three years from the date the patient discovers the injury.

Further, she would have proposed that medical malpractice insurance companies lower their premiums by developing and implementing a plan to annually dedicate at least 50 percent of those savings to reduce the insurance premiums that medical professionals pay.

McCarthy would have also added an amendment that provided grants or contracts to geographic areas that have a shortage of one or more types of health providers as a result of dramatic increases in malpractice insurance premiums.

Dr. David Bergman, an OB/GYN who practices in Great Neck, said coming together as one voice sends a strong message to Governor George Pataki, State Senate Majority Leader Bruno and Assembly Speaker Silver as well as locally elected officials. "The message is 'We've had enough.' Our practices can not continue to sustain the current liability environment as it exists. We cannot absorb another insurance hike, not when we're already squeezed between Medicare cuts and HMO refusal to reimburse. And we can't be held liable for infant brain injuries and other human tragedies and instances where we couldn't do anything to prevent these things from happening."

"Currently, physicians in New York State lead the country in total malpractice awards, with verdicts skyrocketing to an average of $1.7 million in 1994 to an average of $6 million in 1999," he said.

He claimed Long Island obstetricians, on the average, pay $110,000 a year for professional liability insurance. "When a physician's practice can no longer afford to continue to absorb the staggering cost increases, it threatens patient access to care ... In the last 18 months, 212 obstetricians have stopped practicing in New York State. This means that annually 35,000 pregnant women in New York potentially will be forced to find new physicians to provide obstetrics."

He further stated that 43 percent of an obstetrician's reimbursement goes toward liability premiums, which equals approximately $1,430 per delivery. "The only solution is reform of our antiquated tort laws regarding medical liability," he said.

Anthony Bruno, a practicing urologist who works out of Garden City, said tort reform is "about getting rid of mega-million lottery judgments against a noble profession." Bruno, who has practiced for the past 28 years, said there are five physicians in the practice and collectively, their liability insurance premium has exceeded $250,000 per year.

The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights (FTCR) is a California-based, nonprofit education and advocacy organization. It's website explains what happened in California, including evidence that malpractice caps failed to lower insurance premiums, while insurance regulation, passed by California voters in 1988, succeeded. The Foundation encourages readers to review malpractice victims' stories at www.consumerwatchdog.org.

FTCR claims that the insurance industry, the doctors' lobby and even President Bush want to limit the rights of injured patients who are victims of medical negligence, looking to California's 1975 law as a model.

On the other hand, The Doctors Company, a physician-owned professional liability insurer, remains dedicated to reforming the medical-legal system. "We have waged campaigns for 26 years to achieve a better balance between the rights of plaintiffs and defendants. We will continue to seek legal reform that protects physicians against the seemingly limitless expansion of potential liability," Dr. Richard Anderson, chairman of The Doctors Company Board of Governors, states on the company's website.

"When something as ridiculous as an insurance premium gets in between a doctor and a patient, something is broken," Dr. Sam Packer, an ophthalmologist practicing out of Manhasset, added.

Incoming Nassau County Medical Society President Dr. Burton Glass concurred, saying, "Physicians in Nassau County have been victimized, spat upon, slapped around and generally disrespected by a group of attorneys whose only dedication is to their own pocket. They have, by manipulating the law, the media and popular opinion, essentially extorted millions of dollars from your pockets and mine."

Doctors plan to rally on the steps of the state capital June 11, as it's their last chance of the year to "stand together in powerful numbers."