You've seen them more times than you can count -- the television advertisements, running at all hours of the day, in search of plaintiffs for medical malpractice suits. Maybe your law firm has them, and maybe you've even starred in one.
Now, those advertisements could be the next front in the battle among lawyers, doctors, patients, and insurance companies over whether and how to restrict those suits.
The legal arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which sides with doctors and their insurers, has been tracking spending on advertisements and released its latest numbers today. It says that spending has remained almost unchanged since 2006, after a major jump earlier in the decade. The number of spots has actually dropped since 2006.
Debate over medical malpractice suits is heating up in Washington, as some Democrats in Congress search for measures that could persuade Republicans to support a broader healthcare overhaul. The story is similar in statehouses throughout the country.
Law firm spending on medical malpractice ads peaked in 2006, when firms spent $62 million on 180,000 spots, according to the Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform. Spending has stayed constant since, while the number of spots dropped to 168,000 in 2007 and to 157,000 in 2008. Using numbers so far this year, the institute projects 166,000 spots in 2009 at a cost of $62 million.
Officials from the Institute for Legal Reform are focusing on what they call an “exploding” jump since 2004, when they say there were only 10,000 spots costing $3.8 million. “Lawsuits are ultimately a business driven by the plaintiffs’ bar,” Lisa Rickard, the institute’s president, said in a statement. A spokesman added that they have no explanation for such a large jump but that they’re confident in the data.
The institute hired a division of TNS Media Intelligence in Arlington, Va., to count the spots. The firm’s Web site says it specializes in analyzing political advertising. Click here (pdf) for an explanation of its methodology. A call to the firm was not immediately returned.
The American Association for Justice, which represents trial lawyers, says the significance of advertising numbers is undermined by the frequency of actual litigation. A study (pdf) from the National Center for State Courts shows an 8 percent decrease from 1997 to 2006 in states’ civil caseload related to medical malpractice; the study looked at data from nine states.
“Over 98,000 Americans are needlessly killed every year by medical errors, the equivalent of two 737s crashing every day. As usual, the Chamber is willing to bargain away injured patients’ legal rights to protect the profits of their insurance and drug company financers,” Ray De Lorenzi, a spokesman for the association, said in a statement.
UPDATE (4:29 p.m.): Evan Tracey, president of TNS' Campaign Media Analysis Group, said this afternoon that the firm did not study the reasons behind the jump it detected after 2004. "That wasn’t really our purpose in going in and measuring," he said.
But, Tracey said, spikes generally occur in television advertising when businesses begin to copy one another's tactics, especially in response to outside factors. He compared the legal advertising spike with a the jump in the auto industry's advertising of hybrid vehicles after gas prices rose a few years ago. Likewise, he said, moves in 2004 to restrict negligence awards might have pushed law firms to advertise before the proposed restrictions would take effect.
"In general advertising terms, you see these shifts when there are generally successful results. 'If it makes the phone ring, let’s stick with it,'" Tracey said.
Wow, that is a huge amount of money spent on advertising for new clients. I would like to see Australia stats, I think they would be minuscule in comparison.
Posted by: injury lawyers Perth | September 09, 2009 at 12:14 AM