Medical Malpractice

Mauren Gutierrez

Medical malpractice is an actual issue in the state of Iowa. Recently earlier this year a reform has

been made to this subject. The intention of the paper is to analyze this reform and check their

current effectiveness, besides consider how these changes improve or don't in the medical

practice field.

"Medical Malpractice Reform gets Iowa back in the game of recruiting and retaining

physicians to care for Iowans!"1 (Governor Reynolds)

What is medical malpractice? is defined as any act or omission by a physician during treatment

of a patient that deviates from accepted norms of practice in the medical community and causes

an injury to the patient. Medical malpractice is a specific subset of tort law that deals with

professional negligence.

There's different types of medical practice like, wrongful treatment (when a doctor treats you

poorly), Failure to diagnose correct illness (The doctor misdiagnosed and this caused an injury),

Failure to disclose risks to patients (the doctor failed to inform you which caused injuries).

In Iowa, According to The personal injury center2 There are certain types of damages of the court

reward for medical malpractice: medical expenses/bills, physical and mental pain, losses

function of the mind or body, loss of future earning capacity, future medical expenses, Damages

in wrongful death cases, past medical expenses. Damages such as these are going to represent

certain classes, Non economic damages : according to section 147. 136A, damages arising from

pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, mental anguish, emotional pain and

1 Kim reynolds personal twitter, https://twitter.com/IAGovernor/status/1626329924809228294?

cxt=HHwWjIC8_eWc8ZEtAAAA

2 Iowa medical malpractice laws, The personal injury center, Iowa - The Personal Injury Center.
suffering, loss of chance, loss of consortium, or any other non pecuniary damages. Economic

damages: loss of dependent care, Etc, Punitive Damages: Damages awarded as punishment for

the medical professional or facility at fault. Special Damages: Damages for expenses from

medical bills and lost wages.

Next, to analyze the new legislation in Iowa regarding medical malpractice. This year’s session,

governor Reynolds signed HF 1613 into law, which increases the cap for non-economic damages

to victims of medical malpractice from $250,000 to $1 million. In cases when the hospital turns

out to be responsible. "substantial or permanent loss or impairment of a bodily function,

substantial disfigurement, loss of pregnancy, or death”. In which case the amount recoverable

shall not exceed one million dollars, or two million dollars if the civil action includes a hospital

as defined in section 135b.1. such as money awarded for financial losses, or punitive damages in

cases of "willful and wanton disregard" for a patient's safety. They have to consider, how has this

affected Iowans? Before this change in Iowa, the citizens were at a huge disadvantage

considering this is a reform that many states already had. Would like to focus to in the part of the

reform what refer to “loss of pregnancy”, specifically in america and in iowa the amount of loss

pregnancy or birth related problem regarding to medical malpractice are major, this is one of the

highest reasons for lawsuits in iowa, so the fact the is being add to the case of non economic

damages is a improvement for the state, however is not enough. This needs to be avoided and the

legislature should protect and prevent this damage. Even with this progress, more Iowa residents

are victims of medical malpractice compared to other states. Theystill have a hard time trusting

their healthcare providers, and lack proper healthcare infrastructure in rural parts of the state.

3 Iowa legislature, Bill book, HF 161

The reform did not change one of the major problems. Like the statute of limitations in iowa, in

case of medical malpractice the limitations is two years, but the important thing is the the two

years start at the moment the date the you discover the injury which is a main point to know,

cause if we see from the point of view of the victim you are not always be able to realize the

someone was guilty of your injury or the actually this was medical malpractice. This time should

be longer.

According to National data on medical malpractice report in iowa per capita 4 It is clear that there

is a lot more work to do in Iowa. This data is used to determine the current status of the Iowa

health care system. Considering that the highest rates of failures are in diagnostic, monitoring

and treatment. This means that many patients are being mistreated or wrongly diagnosed this

ultimately leads to a backlog in the system just for medical malpractice.

It needs to consider the Impact of the medical malpractice in Iowa on the healthcare system. and

the trust of the patients5. The good medical care in Iowa is not currently accessible to everyone.

The most affected are the citizens of rural counties who do not have access to a nearby first class

facility. These are usually located in urban areas. It is also clear that there are other barriers that

exist such as language and religious differences when it comes to patient care and treatment.

It needs to be acknowledged as well the political and society factors

If the current status of the state of iowa specifically, it is not hard to realize that there are issues

in the political system, this have a negative effect on citizens. For example there will be a hard

4 Iowa medical malpractice annual report for calendar year 2020, september 2021, iowa insurance division. Iowa
Medical Malpractice Annual Report.

5 The health care of linn county, iowa a county-wide assessment of health status and health risks, Pramod Dwivedi,
Health Director Amy Hockett, Assessment Health Promotion Manager Christie Rossi, Epidemiologist, 2022, THE
HEALTH OF LINN COUNTY, IOWA
process to approve this reform in this state Not all parties are happy with the new reform. People

in the capitol are representing opinions and not just their own. This complexes the situation

because patients will not feel protected by their representatives. This ultimately undermines the

credibility of the healthcare system. This is a process that needs more visualization and support

in iowa.

Besides the feeling of being unprotected of the patients. Currently the infrastructure of Iowa

medical care is really poor in rural communities. In 2020 many of Iowa's rural hospitals were at

risk of closure for economic reasons, putting the healthcare that is available to rural Iowans in

jeopardy. For example, there have been recent closures of obstetric services in some rural

communities, with a total of 24 hospitals no longer offering this service. 6 In obstetric care,

especially labor and delivery, having access to care is critical for pregnant patients. The lack of

access to legal services only exacerbates the problem.

These elements are responsible for the fact that people continue to have difficulties in accessing

justice. The lack of information and lawyers in the field of medical malpractice are more

elements of the difficulty obtaining justice.

There are programs on the ground actively trying to bridge the gap between rural communities

and Iowa’s healthcare system. For example, the Iowa Department of Public Health has proposed

rural health and primary care7 initiatives to assist people in rural areas. Without the ability to

implement initiatives, the IDPH cannot have a significant impact on rural healthcare.

6 Access to health care in rural iowa; preserving rural economies and health, iowa hospital association, 2020.
Preserving Rural Economies and Health - Access to Behavioral Health Care in Iowa for Children and Adults

7 Iowa Rural Health and Primary Care Health Professional Underserved Areas and Rural Health Program
Opportunities, october 2019, iowa department of public health, https://iaruralhealth.org/wp-
content/uploads/2020/07/Rural-Health-Programs-Booklet.pdf
 Important to mention for the purpose of this research is Comparative negligence and the

importance in medical malpractice lawsuits. Iowa is a state the have “modified comparative

fault”8 This Seems important to analyze as well when i'm analyzing medical malpractice,

basically this mean the both sides are responsible for damages in some proportion of the fault,

unless the negligence reach 51% or more This means recovery is either prevented or limited

depending on how percent much the driver was at fault for the accident. At the time to go to

court both of the parties are going to be investigated and this sometimes going to this will in

some cases determine that the claimant was also at fault, which will lead to the court either

reducing the award or not awarding it at all. For example in a car accident they could determine

the was your fault and reduce the compensation. I think that in the case that this were to apply to

a medical malpractice it could be hard for the victim and for the compensation determination.

To conclude, medical malpractice in Iowa is a complex process and the current system is full of

hard steps to do before compensation. The new reform is without doubt an improvement for the

state, however the actual system to actually get to the compensation needs work on. As a society

and state, the people need to be able to trust in their health system and know that they will be

protected from irresponsible healthcare providers. However this is impossible to avoid, if this

happens the people need to be sure that his pein will be acknowledged and they will receive fair

compensation.

8 Cooperative negligence, cornell law school, comparative negligence | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information
Institute.
Bibliography

Access to health care in rural iowa; preserving rural economies and health, iowa hospital
association, 2020. Preserving Rural Economies and Health - Access to Behavioral
Health Care in Iowa for Children and Adults

Comparative negligence, Legal information institute, Cornell law school, comparative

negligence | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute.

Daniel J. Johnston, Medmal damages reform and what it means for iowa health care
providers, febrary 14, 20323, MedMal Damages Reform and What It Means for
Iowa Health Care Providers

Iowa medical malpractice annual report for calendar year 2020, september 2021, iowa
insurance division. Iowa Medical Malpractice Annual Report.

Iowa Rural Health and Primary Care Health Professional Underserved Areas and Rural
Health Program Opportunities, october 2019, iowa department of public health,
Iowa Rural Health and Primary Care

Iowa department of health, Iowa rural and primary care, October 2019, Iowa Rural
Health and Primary Care

Jose R. Guardado, PhD, Policy research perspectives, American medical association,

AMA, Policy Research Perspectives: Prevalence of Medical Liability Premium
Increases Unseen Since 2000s Continues for Third Year in a

The health care of linn county, iowa a county-wide assessment of health status and health
risks, Pramod Dwivedi, Health Director Amy Hockett, Assessment Health
Promotion Manager Christie Rossi, Epidemiologist, 2022, THE HEALTH OF
LINN COUNTY, IOWA

Robin Opsahl, Legislature approves cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice

lawsuits, Iowa capital dispatch, february 8,2023 Legislature approves cap on
noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits - Iowa Capital Dispatch