Some New Jersey obstetricians and gynecologists have begun asking their patients to sign away their right to a jury trial in the event of medical malpractice. More than a dozen New Jersey obstetricians and gynecologists have joined Obstetricians & Gynecologists Risk Retention Group of America (OGRRGA), a new company based in Montana, that is reportedly reducing medical malpractice insurance premiums for its physician members by about 50 percent. The doctors in this group require their patients to sign agreements stating they will pursue any claims through binding arbitration only. Patients signing must also agree that pain-and-suffering awards will be capped at $250,000.
Dr. Ruth J. Schulze, a Ridgewood, New Jersey ob-gyn and spokesperson for OGRRGA, has been pushing for legislation to limit the size of malpractice awards for years, and in 2005, she even stopped delivering babies in order to reduce her malpractice insurance premiums.
Asking patients to sign away their rights to a jury trial has touched off quite a debate in the legal/medical arena. OGGRGA asserts that it is able to keep the insurance premiums lower for its physician members because of the binding arbitration requirement, but some wonder if a contract that calls for the signer to waive the right to a jury trial is enforceable at all. Some experts claim that these contracts are not enforceable and that patients who sign the agreement may not even fully understand what they are signing.
If the New Jersey physicians are successful in their efforts to avoid jury trials, expedite arbitration and lower insurance premiums, then it will not be long before other states follow suit.
If you would like to learn more about medical malpractice law or find out what is going on in the world of legal matters, please click here to visit the American Association For Justice website.
