The Southern Regional Project on Infant Mortality, in conjunction with Governor Gaston Caperton III of West Virginia, is planning to educate policymakers, service providers and advocates in 20 Southern jurisdictions about the problem of limited access to obstetrical care caused by problems with medical malpractice insurance, and how they can help solve the problem. Women in the south, particularly rural and low-income women, are experiencing increasing difficulties with access to obstetrical care, as providers stop practicing obstetrics because of the high cost or unavailability of medical malpractice insurance, and the fear of being sued. Concerns about medical malpractice are directly linked to changes in the practice patterns of obstetricians and family physicians, to inadequate prenatal care for thousands of women in the South, and to an increased risk of poor birth outcomes for these women. Efforts to resolve these problems have revolved around traditional tort reforms such as caps on noneconomic damages and attorneys' contingency fees. The primary goal of this effort is to shift the efforts of states away from traditional tort reform, which have failed to ease shortages of obstetrical providers, towards developing alternatives to the tort system. To do this, the Project will develop and widely distribute a set of issue briefs, and hold a dissemination conference for key state officials and advocates who would be involved in crafting an alternative to the tort system in their states.
