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LEGISLATIVE
ACCOMPLISHMENTS

versation and worry and concern, and the top
of everybody’s mind.
“We understand that it’s our job to practice
good medicine. We don’t need a lawyer to tell
us that, or the threat or intimidation … of a
lawsuit for that.”
Although she and her husband moved to
Texas post-2003, Dr. Katherine Hensley is a
good example of the typical Texas physician’s
psyche post-tort reform.
“I don’t feel afraid of litigation practicing
here. I just don’t,” she said. “I try to practice
responsible medicine, because I feel like mal-
practice is real, and when it really happens,
those physicians need to be held accountable
Meanwhile, the number of physicians in Texas grew more than and the people they harm need to be compensated. I’m not saying
twice as fast as the state’s booming population growth between 2008 that doctors should never be sued ever, by any means. But I don’t
and 2017, according to the Department of State Health Services. Plus, feel like someone is going to come after me every time they have a
more specialists are practicing in communities where they’re needed. bad outcome.”
Overzealous intervening and test-ordering
can have detrimental results for patients’
health, she says, noting recent research on the
harms of ordering too many CT scans and
overprescribing antibiotics.
“We act like, ‘Oh well, it’s not going to do
them any harm, so let’s just go ahead and do
it anyway, because we don’t want to miss
something and get in trouble,’” Dr. Kather-
ine Hensley said. “The reality is, we’re prob-
ably causing harm, so we need to get away
from that. And I think tort reform has
helped with that a lot. Because it allows us
to make decisions based on what’s actually
best for our patients, and not what’s going
to keep us out of court.”
Austin internal medicine physician Howard Marcus, MD, chair of Corpus Christi neurosurgeon Mathew Alexander, MD, came to
TAPA’s board, says the mindset of practicing medicine has changed, Texas in 2004 because of liability reform after completing his neuro-
and statistics on medical liability lawsuits pre- and post-tort reform surgery residency in Milwaukee. He says while tort reform has signif-
are strong indicators. (See “Plummeting Lawsuits,” above) icantly improved the litigation climate over the years, there’s still a
“Those frivolous lawsuits, by and large, are no longer occurring, need to practice defensively, and access to neurosurgeons still has
because the system is now fair and balanced,” Dr. Marcus said. “The room for improvement.
psychological result of that is it’s no longer a topic of endless con- “In Victoria, there’s no neurosurgeon coverage. In Laredo, there’s
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