In a memo to legislators today the Wisconsin Medical Society says that changes to liability law in the state budget could lead to trouble for the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund.

Mark Grapentine, senior VP of government relations for WMS, said that the changes could lead plaintiffs to go after the "deep pockets" of doctors who pay into the fund.

"For example, if a physician who pays into the IPFCF is found to be 20 percent
negligent while a non-paying physician is found to be 80 percent negligent, the plaintiff could recover the entire amount of the liability from the physician who pays into the Fund despite that physician's low level of negligence," writes Grapentine.

The WMS is asking for liability law changes to be pulled from the budget and taken up as separate legislation.

-- By Greg Bump