EVERY TIME I read a statement from a member of the medical community calling for more restrictions on the rights of the injured, I'm always struck by how they speak in generalities, using incomplete anecdotes, rather than citing accepted statistics.

For example, in her recent op-ed, Dr. Margaret Trexler Hessen states that friends have been forced out of practice or have moved on to other careers due to too-high malpractice insurance rates. But she doesn't address how many were found negligent of malpractice before their rates rose or how many accepted higher-paying jobs.

Did you also wonder why she didn't put a price tag on what she claims are the "large portions of multimillion-dollar awards" that go for what she terms "pain and suffering," (non-economic damages)? She doesn't know because statistics aren't kept. How can she claim they're the problem when she can't tell you how much they are?

Ultimately, the reason people who want to take away the rights of the injured rely on incomplete anecdotes is that the facts are clear: Pennsylvania has made large strides in improving the medical malpractice market. The number of lawsuits is down sharply, payouts are down and the insurance market is stable - as is the number of physicians. Even the Pennsylvania Medical Association has admitted as much in its recent report "The State of Medicine in Pennsylvania: 2005."

But by making unverifiable claims, the medical community can continue to push the public's focus away from where it should be: malpractice itself, which Dr. Hessen admits occurs.

Nationally, we know that as many as 98,000 people die annually because of a preventable medical error. But in Pennsylvania, these errors remain hidden from patients and the public.

But taking away the rights of someone who has been hurt by malpractice is the wrong answer to a serious problem. The best way to stop malpractice suits is to prevent malpractice.

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