EDMOND — Physicians and attorneys often oppose each other when it comes to medical malpractice, but Randy Grau believes they also share common ground.

Being an attorney married to Dr. Renee Grau, a dermatologist, has enhanced Grau’s perspective on medical malpractice issues. Lawsuits without merit are causing Oklahoma physicians to practice “defensive medicine,” said Grau, a 2010 candidate for state House District 81. An example of defensive medicine is when physicians are advised by their attorneys never to tell a patient they are sorry about an outcome, Grau said.

“One of the things I don’t support is anything that limits access to justice or to the court system,” said Grau, R-Edmond. “Someone who might have a worthwhile case, where it becomes cost-prohibitive for them to be able to retain an attorney and seek justice, I think the tendency is to go too far in that direction at times.”

If elected to the House, Grau said he would work passionately to improve the efficiency of the state’s legal system.

So far he is the only candidate vying for the House seat being vacated by Rep. Ken Miller, R-Edmond, who is running for state treasurer. Grau is now the deputy commissioner for Oklahoma County Commissioner Ray Vaughn.

Grau said a structure can be created to retain the best aspects of the jury system on a case-by-case basis.

“No two cases are exactly the same; we cannot just apply one formula,” he said.

The majority of Grau’s work as a defense attorney has focused on representing Oklahomans and their businesses. He’s defended physicians and health care institutions and has set up corporate structuring, small businesses and medical practice partnerships.

He has asked both defense attorneys and plaintiffs’ attorneys to bring forth solutions with the message, “We understand that physicians are nervous because they get threatened with these things that appear to have no merit,” Grau said.

He has also met with nervous attorneys who feel vilified when trying to seek justice for a client. Many of these attorneys are reticent to reach out to their elected officials because they think legislators generally consider them to be the source of problems, Grau said.

Grau wants to help bring reforms to the system that do not give one party an unfair advantage.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma School of Law, Grau was an intern at an Oklahoma law practice setting his course to resolve medical malpractice issues. He discovered legislation in some states allows physicians to apologize to an opposing party for an unintentional outcome. This apology may not be used against the physician as an admission of fault or guilt in these states.

“They can say that without fear of somebody throwing that in their face in court saying, ‘Well, if you didn’t think you were at fault, then why did you apologize?’” Grau said.

He served on the board of the Young Lawyers Division of the Oklahoma Bar Association as Renee Grau became active in the Oklahoma Medical Association.

“We got these groups together to start talking,” Randy said. “We did some charitable things together because we see these two professions seemingly at odds and entrenched in their positions.”

He recalled a young attorney with the fear of legal malpractice speaking about making sure he represents his clients responsibly. One of the physicians said, ‘You guys worry about that?’” The physician discovered he could empathize with medical malpractice attorneys.

“It was great to see these two groups have a mutual understanding for the first time,” Grau said. “…So I believe I am uniquely positioned to bring both parties to the table — the attorneys and the health care industry — and the insurance industry because I did a lot of insurance law.”

Reform also needs to be reviewed, Grau said. So he is investigating whether recent legislative reform actually lowers medical malpractice insurance costs as well as health care costs. A new state law went into effect on Nov. 1 ending joint and several liability in Oklahoma. House Bill 1603 provides that unless a defendant is more than 50 percent at fault, the defendant will only be charged its proportionate share of the injury award, according to the American Tort Reform Association.

Former Oklahoma State Medical Association President Jack Beller, M.D., said the full impact of the reform will be evident in three to five years.

A provision of HB 1603 authored by state Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, requires the filing of a certificate of merit when a lawsuit is filed, said Beller, currently chairman of the Counsel on State Legislation.

“There is a provision that will go a long way to eliminating those frivolous lawsuits that drive up the cost of defending against those lawsuits and will go a long way toward eliminating the anxiety that’s produced in physicians when they have a frivolous lawsuit filed against them,” Beller said.

This provision requires that the attorney seek a physician to review the case and state there is a basis for the suit.

HB 1603 caps pain and suffering awards at $400,000 outside of exceptional circumstances. Beller said a similar provision was passed in the state’s liability reform of 2003. That provision was struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, but was rewritten for HB 1603.

The official filing period for candidates is set for June 7-9, 2010. The statewide primary will be July 27, 2010, with a run-off election on Aug. 24, 2010. The general statewide election will be Nov. 2, 2010.



jcoburn@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 114