Faced with spiking malpractice insurance premiums in 2004, many doctors in Maryland were on the verge of packing up their little black bags and leaving town.

Now, just three years later, the medical malpractice crisis has gone into remission, although the symptoms still need to be closely monitored.

In 2004, the Medical Mutual Liability Society of Maryland - which insures 6,500 of the state's doctors - hiked its rates by 24 percent, citing more frequent malpractice lawsuits and bigger jury awards. The following year, the state's largest malpractice carrier hiked the rates by another 33 percent.

Burdened with thousands of...