POLICY FORUM Maine’s Medical Liability Demonstration Project—Linking Practice Guidelines to Liability Protection

In 1990, Maine enacted legislation to test whether the practice of defensive medicine could be reduced by providing protection to physicians who complied with guidelines established by their peers and national specialty organizations. The law provided that physicians who participated in the project could use adherence to the guidelines and protocols as an affirmative defense in a medical malpractice lawsuit. More than four hundred physicians elected to participate. Between 1990 and 1992, 19 practice parameters for the medical specialties of obstetrics and gynecology, radiology, anesthesiology, and emergency medicine were developed by medical specialty advisory committees comprising physicians, insurers, allied health professionals, and patients. The law was a joint project of the Maine Medica