In what is sure to spark a lively debate between medical professionals and the legal community, Public Citizen, the organization founded by Ralph Nader that represents consumer interests through lobbying, litigation, research and public education, concluded in a recent study that a small group of doctors are responsible for a majority of malpractice payments, and that these payments are declining overall nationwide.

Titled “The Great Medical Malpractice Hoax,” the report found that 5.9 percent of doctors were responsible for 57.8 percent of U.S. malpractice payments from 1991 to 2005, with each of these doctors making at least two payments.

The partners and associates of Gamba & Lombana hope that this report will help subdue the cries for federal medical-malpractice tort reform and caps on damages. It effectively demonstrates that the so-called “malpractice crisis” is being exaggerated by medical professionals.

The report also found a significant decline in the total value of malpractice payments to patients, including a 15.4 percent decline in malpractice payments and an 8 percent decline in the average annual payment for verdicts between 1991 and 2005. Additionally, verdicts exceeding $1 million were less than 3 percent of all payments made in 2005.

According to Public Citizen and the information that it studied from the National Practitioner Data Bank, the real medical malpractice crisis continues to be inadequate patient safety. In fact, evidence shows that the current medical liability system is working, with patients with minor injuries receiving little compensation while the bulk of malpractice awards occur in cases involving severe injuries or death. More than 64 percent of payments in 2005 involved death or major injuries, and payments for “insignificant injuries” were less than one-third of 1 percent of payments in 2005.