In February 2003, many of New Jersey’s 22,000 physicians temporarily stopped non-emergency work to protest the impact of high malpractice insurance premiums on the practice of medicine. Specialists in high-risk practice areas have left or have threatened to leave the state due to the constant rise in premiums. Doctors in all practice areas have leaned towards practicing defensive medicine in a manner that may significantly increase the cost of health care. Doctors rallied at the State House in Trenton and other locations throughout the state demanding the Legislature impose caps on malpractice awards and implement other tort reforms as necessary steps toward obtaining affordable insurance.

On June 7, 2004, Governor James McGreevey signed into law the New Jersey Medical Care Access and Responsibility and Patients First Act (the “Act”) as a response to some of the concerns of the medical profession. Although it does not impose caps on jury awards, the bill seeks to provide a comprehensive set of reforms affecting the state’s tort liability and health care systems to ensure that quality health care services continue to be available to New Jersey residents.

Among the key provisions of the Act is the introduction of the Affidavit of Non-Involvement, which allows a physician who was misidentified or otherwise not involved in the care and treatment of a plaintiff to seek dismissal of the complaint at a very early stage in the suit. Doctors are often named in malpractice actions who were not involved at all in patient care. Unfortunately, simply being named in a suit resulted in an increase in that doctor’s malpractice premium. Now, by filing an affidavit setting forth with specificity why the physician should not have been named in the action, an early opportunity to obtain a dismissal is possible. If the dismissal is granted within 180 days of the filing of the last pleading in the case, insurance companies are precluded from raising that doctor’s premium simply based on the claim of malpractice.

The Act also includes an amendment to the statute of limitations for medical malpractice actions involving minor plaintiffs. There is a two-year statute of limitations in medical negligence cases which, in cases involving minors, does not begin to run until the plaintiff reaches the age of 18. Thus, in cases involving very young patients, doctors could learn many years later (up until the individual turns 20 years old) that he is being sued for malpractice. The Act amended the tolling of the statute for cases involving minors by requiring that cases be brought before the child’s 13 th birthday.

The Act also provides a vehicle to subsidize increases in malpractice premiums to certain qualifying physicians. Every licensed physician, podiatrist, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor and, yes, attorney will now be assessed an annual $75 fee to fund this account. The state expects to raise over $17 million to help fund malpractice premium increases and keep high-risk specialists from retiring or leaving New Jersey. Physicians now also may join together and form a purchasing alliance for the purpose of negotiating a reduced premium for its members. There are certain restrictions involved in forming this alliance, and those interested should consult counsel.