"The way to fix broken medical malpractice systems" in Pennsylvania and other states "is to address the underlying problems of the tort system -- whether through federal statute, state legislation or judicial oversight," Alex Tabarrok, associate professor of economics at George Mason University, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. He says that "[r]ecent increases in premiums are simply a belated recognition of the reality of what appears to be permanently higher medical malpractice awards," adding that "[p]ointing fingers at the insurance industry for price gouging or mismanagement ... make[s] little sense and [is] not supported by the data" (Tabarrok, Wall Street Journal, 5/21).

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