Just days after more than two dozen West Virginia physicians took leaves of absence in protest of the high cost of medical malpractice insurance, a consumer interest coalition released a study blaming the soaring rates on poor business decisions made by the insurance industry. The study, which was conducted by Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR), a coalition of 100 consumer and public interest groups, determines that medical malpractice payouts have not increased drastically when compared to the rate of inflation, while insurance premiums have increased and decreased in direct relationship to the economy's condition.

According to the study, Stable Losses/Unstable Rates in West Virginia, medical malpractice insurance rates have increased because the economy has been weak since the second half of 2000. Director of Insurance for the Consumer Federation of America J. Robert Hunter, the lead author who also published a similar study in October, stated the only way to solve the current problem in West Virginia is to reform "the business and accounting practices of the insurance industry."