If the tort reform limiting medical malpractice recoveries that was enacted in Texas in 2003 and urged by advocates to be adopted nationally in 2010 as part of the federal health care is to be rationally responded to, perhaps this should be the response: No thanks.

The strong conclusions of an in-depth study carried out by Public Citizen -- a nonprofit consumer advocacy group -- strongly suggest that, with its just-issued national report excoriating the Texas reforms carried out during Gov. Rick Perry's tenure.

Supporters of the 2003 law, which include the Texas Medical Association, say that it has helped curb patient costs and also resulted in a sizable inflow of doctors into the state. Prior to the legislation, they say, doctors were leaving the state by the thousands and malpractice premiums were close to double what they are now.

That is simply not true, responds Public Citizen, which calls the law "a failed experiment" and says that it has decidedly not benefited Texas residents and patients. The organization cautions adoption of the law nationally, stating that it would primarily benefit physicians and insurers.

Perry has stated that 21,000 doctors have come to the state since the tort reform, specifically because of it. PolitiFact, which examines the statements of politicians for veracity, says that most of the increase has owed to the state's population growth, not to tort reform.

Public Citizen says that health care coverage is actually less affordable to more Texas residents now than it was before the law took effect. The organization also states that, contrary to the claim of proponents that doctors would order fewer tests and be less aggressive about practicing defensive medicine with tort reform in place, costs associated with diagnostic testing in Texas actually increased since the 2003 law was passed. Moreover, the national report states that they "rose 25.6 percent faster than the national average."

Related Resource: Austin American-Statesman, "Report: Texas' tort law has failed to reduce health costs, attract doctors" Oct. 12, 2011