CHEYENNE - Medical review panels, created to weed out frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits, have had a modest impact on claims filed through the end of 2007, a report says.

Of the 89 claims filed since the panel went into effect on July 1, 2005, 24 were either withdrawn or dismissed, settled or partially dismissed, or a lawsuit was filed but it was settled before trial.

Overall, the panel has had an impact on 26 percent of the claims.

"I'd say that I think the program has helped to some extent," said Eric Easton of the attorney general's office, who administers the panels.

"There are certainly some cases we can point to and say that going through the process led to the early compromise of a claim, or dismissal of a claim," he added.

But there are a lot of claims that have gone through the process but were waived before a hearing and either ended up in District Court or some other settlement.

Because many of these cases are complicated, Easton said, it is difficult to say if going through a hearing would have kept them out of court.

"I certainly feel that in a lot of those cases the process has helped settle cases ahead of time and reduced costs and kept them out of court," Easton said.

"That's a good thing, and so we're accomplishing something," he added.

It has been a bit of a surprise, he said, that so many health care providers - physicians, nurses, dentists and hospitals - waived the panel hearing process, which now is voluntary.

It is up to the Legislature, Easton said, to decide if this is enough or if the law should be changed to make panel participation mandatory.

In 32 of the 89 cases, the health care provider failed to answer the claim or waived the panel. In 34 cases, the claimant and the health care provider jointly waived the panel.

In six cases, the claimant dismissed the claim.

Dennis Ellis, executive director of the Wyoming Medical Society, said that until Wyoming is no longer the most expensive state to buy medical malpractice insurance, the review panels will not resolve the shortage of doctors here. He noted the average age of physicians in Wyoming is 51 and many are getting ready to retire.

"If you put more teeth into it, it might be more effective," he said of the medical review panels.

But making participation mandatory would mean double defense costs - for the panel hearing and a court case.

Ellis also said some of the data on claims are incomplete, so it is difficult to get a sense of what the numbers mean.

The Legislature, meanwhile, shows no sign of making changes in the medical reviews.

"We wanted to give it more time," said Sen. Tony Ross, R-Cheyenne, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The committee received a report from Easton at the end of the legislative session last winter.

"What we have is a provision that the parties can opt out of," Ross said.

When the bill creating the panels was being debated, the medical society wanted participation to be mandatory.

But defense attorneys who defend the health care providers did not.

They often opt out - waive participation - because they don't want to agree to discovery of their case, he said.

Ross, an attorney, said he and other attorneys like to have control of their cases.

If the health care provider fails to answer a claim, the person filing the claim is immediately authorized to file a lawsuit.

Robert Tiedeken, a Cheyenne attorney who represents plaintiffs - the patients - said all the claims he filed with the panel were waived by the health care providers.

The panel, he said, is probably serving a purpose by weeding out a few cases.

Yet, he said that a small number of very experienced lawyers on both sides handle these claims and are capable of winnowing out the weak ones.

A better approach, Tiedeken said, would be expedited proceedings in court.

Contact Joan Barron at joan.barron@trib.com or by phone at 307-632-1244.