Why have malpractice insurance rates skyrocketed in recent years?

According to Richard G. Roberts in an October 2002 article in the American Academy of Family Physicians News and Publications, the cost of liability insurance rose almost 30% in some areas of the United States in the 2000 to 2002 time period. Some insurers have gone bankrupt and some physicians have had to either move or quit performing certain procedures because of insurance costs. News stories appear now and then that chronicle the plight of patients—such as expectant mothers—who live in areas under-staffed medically because of malpractice insurance and  therefore have to drive long distances to get medical care. One major factor in the increase in malpractice, according to Roberts, is the increasing number of large awards for plaintiffs as well as higher loss ratios for insurers. Accordingly, the trend of higher premiums tends to be in areas where large plaintiff rewards are common. An obstetrics physician in south Florida, for example, may have to pay over $200,000 a year in malpractice insurance,  but one in another part of the country not have to pay nearly as much because plaintiff rewards have been considerably less or infrequent.