Comparison of state legislation regarding professional liability.

The so-called malpractice crisis of the mid-1970s alerted physicians to the need for legislative involvement in order to achieve needed malpractice tort reform. There has been a positive effort to modify the medical liability situation in each of our 50 states. A review of this legislative activity from 1975 through 1977 is presented. It is anticipated that a new malpractice crisis may develop during the early 1980s. Actuarial data now being collected plus the effects of such innovations as arbitration, pretrial screening panels, collateral source rules, and periodic funding of malpractice claims may provide an equitable approach to any future malpractice tort reform.