Widespread anecdotes and fabrications about doctors fleeing Illinois are contrary to the facts.
- Despite claims that doctors are leaving Illinois, the number of physicians licensed and engaged in “patient care” in Illinois has never declined.1
- Illinois’ number of physicians, per citizen population, has outpaced Wisconsin, Iowa, Kentucky and Indiana over the last decade.2
- Illinois averages more doctors per person than two other states frequently cited by tort reformers as “model tort reform states” – California and Texas.3
- Texas, which enacted tort reform laws to attract doctors to their state, is facing a massive doctor shortage. This further proves that laws restricting a patient’s rights to hold negligent doctors accountable do not entice doctors to locate there.4
- There are more active physicians per capita in states that do not have medical malpractice caps than there are in states with medical malpractice caps. Illinois does not have medical malpractice caps.5
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1 State Physician Workforce Data Book, Association of American Medical Colleges, Various Editions
2 Ibid.
3 State Physician Workforce Data Book, Association of American Medical Colleges, Various Editions
4 Driving my life away, The Texas Observer, November 18, 2019. https://www.texasobserver.org/driving-my-life-away/
5 State Physician Workforce Data Book, Association of American Medical Colleges, Various Editions
PDF Fact Sheet: Doctors Are Not Leaving Illinois
