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Localized Pain

By Tresa Baldas
September 27, 2007

A movement is slowly building to abolish century-old medical malpractice laws that judge a doctors' performance by the medical standards existing in his or her community. Those laws, known as 'locality rules,' are still on the books in 21 states. They were originally designed to protect rural doctors who lacked access to medicines and training available in big cities. But plaintiffs' lawyers, courts, medical professionals and a handful of legislators are calling for the laws' demise, arguing that in the present day, all doctors ' regardless of where they live and practice ' have equal access to quality training and the latest medicines, and should therefore be held to the same standards.

Two Sides

Critics claim that locality rules unfairly dictate who gets to testify in medical malpractice cases. Plaintiffs' lawyers dislike them because they mandate that only locals can be used as expert witnesses ' a tough feat in small towns where doctors are reluctant to testify against colleagues. Some judges have said the rules unfairly disqualify otherwise qualified medical experts. 'It's impossible to get an expert in a small community to testify against a colleague for a plaintiff. The brotherhood is just too tight,' said plaintiffs' attorney Mark McGrath of Jensen McGrath Podgorny in Research Triangle Park, NC. McGrath does medical malpractice and personal injury work in North Carolina, which has a locality rule.

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