In favor of caps.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)

In the debate about caps on noneconomic damages, you pitted an experienced physician and CEO of a physician-owned insurance company, Richard E. Anderson, M.D., against Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy (Pro & Con: "Are caps the answer to the malpractice crisis?" Nov. 15, 2004, p. 7).

I hate to use the ad hominem argument, but is that the best the legal side could find? We in Texas heard all of these legal arguments before our Proposition 12 passed.

The only argument that holds is so simple that the legal profession refuses to mention it: If the business is profitable, they (insurers) will come, and if it is not, they will go. Texas now has new insurance companies trying to get a foot in the door. Therefore, I assume there is money to be made here with our caps in place, where-as prior to the caps, the insurance industry was leaving in droves.

Ms. Doroshow is wrong about her figures, too. She states that rates for Texas' major insurer (Texas Medical Liability Trust, I assume) increased by 147% since 1999. I don't think they have increased very much over the last 10 years, but they have decreased 12% this year and are going down 5% next year. The final figure is most telling. The number of malpractice cases filed since Proposition 12 passed is almost negligible, although the paper-work is in for every possible case that could be filed before the vote. What does that tell you?

The problem with caps is that they are only a Band-Aid to the total tort reform needed to remove the $1,000 tax that everyone pays annually to cover liability issues, from ladders to medical care to asbestos to, well, you know what I mean.

Robert Frischer, M.D.

Wichita Falls, ...