The number of doctors in Oklahoma is increasing, despite claims that lawsuit reform is needed because many are leaving the state.
The Senate last week passed Senate Bill 863, which would cap noneconomic pain and suffering damages in lawsuits at $250,000, with some exceptions. The measure does not cap economic damages for lost wages and medical bills.
Another measure awaiting Senate action would require that compensation from sources independent of a defendant, such as a plaintiff’s insurance, be subtracted from the amount of damages recovered from the defendant.
Following its Senate passage, the State Chamber said the pain and suffering cap was needed because the state is loosing jobs, doctors, nurses and hospitals to neighboring states.
But figures from the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision show the state has gained doctors in recent years.
In 2005, Oklahoma had 5,494 active medical doctors, according to the licensing board. As of Thursday, the number was 6,132.
“If you just look at the overall numbers, they are going up,” said Lyle Kelsey, executive director of the State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision.
But some of those doctors might not be providing direct patient care and could be in administrative or ancillary positions, such as radiology and pathology.
Kelsey said he is doing a study to determine if the state is loosing specialists.
Deborah Bruce, executive director of the Oklahoma Osteopathic Board of Examiners, said her agency is seeing an increase in osteopathic physicians, some of which is due to the increased use of telemedicine.
“We make them be licensed to treat Oklahoma patients,” Bruce said of doctors living in other states who practice by telemedicine.
Kelsey said the same is true for medical doctors.
The Oklahoma Osteopathic Board of Examiners also has seen an increase in the number of osteopaths who failed to renew their licenses.
“In Oklahoma, one quarter of all practicing physicians are 60 years old or older,” said Mike Seney, a senior vice president with the State Chamber. “They are not being replaced in the marketplace with enough new doctors to keep up with growing Baby Boomer demand.”
The state has fewer than 14 practicing physicians for every 1,000 Medicare recipients, Seney said.
“New physicians are overwhelmingly going into higher-paying specialties,” he said. “We face a critical shortage of primary-care physicians.”
Tulsa attorney Clark Brewster said putting a cap on pain and suffering damages will only encourage a decrease in the quality of care. He called the proposed cap “corporate welfare.”
His firm represents Judy Claudette Williams, 57, who lives south of Jenks. Williams said when she awoke from thyroid surgery in 2006, her vocal cords were paralyzed.
“I could barely breathe,” she said. “I could not talk. I could barely swallow.”
Williams had to have a tracheotomy tube for two years and underwent a procedure to mitigate the problem. She has a lawsuit pending against the doctor, whose attorney declined to comment.
“I can’t even explain to someone what it means that every breath you take is difficult and every word you say is difficult,” Williams said. “I cannot even walk and talk at the same time. That takes too much air.”
She said her condition will only worsen.
“I just do not understand how politicians can put a price on pain and suffering of an individual before the case has even gone to court,” she said. “That absolutely makes zero sense to me.”
Critics of a cap on awards say once the damages for pain and suffering are exhausted, more people will seek government assistance, at a cost to taxpayers.
BY BARBARA HOBEROCK
News OK