The Charleston Daily Mail reports on the aftermath of West Virginia med-mal legislation:

Charleston Area Medical Center is attributing its rise in new doctors to statewide medical malpractice reforms passed in 2003.

Dr. Glenn Crotty Jr., chief operating officer, said the hospital has recruited around 30 doctors annually over the past few years, for a total of almost 100 new hires.

Before the Legislature passed a comprehensive bill limiting the amount of payouts in medical malpractice lawsuits, the hospital would have been lucky to recruit one new doctor each year, Crotty said.

"We were at almost zero before tort reform," Crotty said about the hospital's recruiting efforts. "And we had several doctors leaving."

Plus: follow-up editorial "Tort reform saved health care" (via Kevin Pho).