Med Mal Blog from Robinson Group Strategic Communications, LLC

About these news links: Some on-line newspapers may require you to register by providing
your name, e-mail address, etc., in order to access articles. Some links, especially older
links, may no longer be available. Some sites may charge a fee for archived articles.

Regulators OK 2% insurance surcharge
Jacksonville Business Journal, FL - Oct. 31, 2007
...The surcharge also applies to medical malpractice and aircraft policies. The one-time assessment is expected to begin appearing on customers bill in March 2008.

Insurance surcharge is added
Orlando Sentinel, FL (Associated Press) - Oct. 31, 2007
...Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty agreed Monday to the surcharge, which also applies to medical-malpractice and aircraft policies. It also had been approved Oct. 11 by the board of the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association...

Poll: More docs are unsatisfied with their jobs
CourierPostOnline, NJ - Oct. 31, 2007
Job dissatisfaction among doctors is growing, fueled in part by the burgeoning cost of malpractice insurance, lower reimbursements from health-care plans and less face-to-face time with patients, according to a new poll out Tuesday...

Poll: Doctors frustrated in N.J.
The Record, Hackensack, NJ - Oct. 31, 2007
...Malpractice premiums, among the highest in the nation, are another source of trouble for physicians, especially among obstetricians...

Bay State doctors seek law to allow apologies for mistakes
The Boston Globe, MA - Oct. 31, 2007
...The Massachusetts Medical Society, which represents 18,000 of the state's physicians, is lobbying legislators for a special legal exemption for any doctor who apologizes to a patient and admits making a mistake: The statements could not be used as evidence against the doctor in a medical malpractice case...

posted by Editor at 1:42 PM

Attorney general supports hospital group on not reporting errors
The Belllingham Herald, WA (Associated Press) - Oct. 30, 2007
...At the request of the hospital association, the Health Department recently stopped identifying the hospitals that commit those errors. Hospital officials based their request on a change in the law last year, and now the state attorney general's office has agreed...

Law stops disclosure of medical mistakes
Seattle Times, WA - Oct. 30, 2007
...After media reports about the situation prompted a deluge of complaints to the hospital association, officials there said the group would work to change the law so hospital-specific reports could continue to be public...

Insurance failures spawn new levy on Florida policies
Palm Beach Post, FL - Oct. 30, 2007
Every homeowner policy and commercial and liability policy in Florida will be charged, she said, as well as every medical malpractice and aircraft policy. Policyholders of Citizens, the state-sponsored insurer of last resort, will be hit this time because the legislature removed their exemption from such assessments as part of the insurance reform passed in January...

Editorial: Don't ignore the down side of Wisconsin's fiscal outlook
La Crosse Tribune, WI - Oct. 30, 2007
...It also cast a gloomy look at the way the state budget allowed a $200 million transfer from the Patient Compensation Fund, which is supposed to be used for large malpractice lawsuits. Unfortunately, the practice of raiding specific-purpose funds in order to bail out other programs has been done in the past...

Opinion - Charles Schauberger, MD: Oppose the raid on patient fund
La Crosse Tribune, WI - Oct. 30, 2007
...The Wisconsin Medical Society has indicated its intent to file a suit within hours of Gov. Jim Doyle’s signing of the state budget. I think a strong case will be presented...

Decker supports hospital tax
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, WI - Oct. 29, 2007
...Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Schofield, said he wants to scrap the transfer of $200 million from a fund to pay medical malpractice claims that exceed insurance limits, a move that prompted doctors who pay into the fund to sue the state Monday...

Hospital tax plan could be revived
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Oct. 29, 2007
...Decker said he would still like to trade a controversial new hospital tax, killed in last-minute negotiations, for a $200 million, one-time transfer from the fund that helps pay medical malpractice claims...

Medical Society files lawsuit against state
The Business Journal of Milwaukee, WI - Oct. 29, 2007
...The Medical Society announced the legal action related to the fund Monday. For weeks, it has promised to take legal action if the state's biennial budget included a raid on the fund. The lawsuit was filed in Dane County Circuit Court Monday...

posted by Editor at 10:44 AM

Editorial: More progress on the medical malpractice issue
Daily and Sunday Review, Towanda, PA - Oct. 29, 2007
...Perhaps the best indicator of the improved situation is that the state’s two largest medical malpractice insurers have filed rate decreases with the state Insurance Department...

Editorial: Municipalities make a necessary stab at becoming self-insurers
The News Journal, Wilmington, DE - Oct. 29, 2007
..Medical doctors are pursuing the same route as they watch their numbers shrink in certain parts of the state because of prohibitive malpractice premiums...

Playing politics with SCHIP: Insuring America
National Ledger, Phoenix, AZ - Oct. 29, 2007
...Tort reform would decrease the number of frivolous law suits against providers and help to bring down health care costs and increase access...

Doyle signs budget, $200 million lawsuit remains
The Daily Cardinal, Univ. of Wisconsin, WI - Oct. 29, 2007
...The IPFCF is to pay for medical malpractice court settlements, and according to WMS Senior Vice President for Government Relations Mark Grapentine, a transfer from it is illegal since only doctors and hospitals, not taxpayers, pay into the fund...

Editorial: Big jury verdict is not a sign of a broken system
Portland Press Herald, ME - Oct. 29, 2007
...This is especially true in Maine, where every medical malpractice complaint must go through a screening process before it can go before a jury. As a result, it is a hard place for a plaintiff to win...

Opinion - Peter Carlson, Washington Post: Odd magazines often get a real workout at the gym
Los Angeles Times, CA - Oct. 29, 2007
...Medical Economics: This magazine for doctors contains an essay by a Missouri physician who loses a malpractice lawsuit. Is she bitter about that? Well, here's the last paragraph of her essay:...

Controversial insurance proposal on ballot in Washington state
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Oct. 28, 2007
...The question, then, is whether a patient or a patient's attorney can sue a physician's medical liability insurer for allegedly failing to properly cover the doctor's claim...

Doyle vetoes free shots of liquor, new wine distribution system
Ironwood Daily Globe, MI - Oct. 28, 2007
...The Wisconsin Medical Society said it plans to sue over a $200 million transfer from a fund used to pay medical malpractice claims. Doyle said he was confident that the fund would withstand the transfer...

Influx of medical students creates new concerns
Houston Chronicle, TX - Oct. 28, 2007
...Lately, however, more doctors have applied for licenses in Texas, likely because of new limits in medical malpractice lawsuits that make it more appealing for physicians to practice here...

Editorial: Public deservies access to data on hospital errors
The Olympian, Olympia, WA - Oct. 28, 2007
...Public outrage over the non-disclosure now has the hospital association backpedaling. The association’s revised position is that the state can release the information on medical errors as long as it’s accompanied by an explanation from the hospital on how the wrong body part was operated on or why doctors left surgical equipment behind in a patient...

Top doctor drives state agenda
Erie Times-News, PA - Oct. 27, 2007
...The Medical Society is working on alternatives, which includes health courts, early mediation or arbitration, and we're also looking very seriously at an apology rule or benevolent gesture rule...

Opinion - Scott Milfred: After all that, state is back where it started
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, WI - Oct. 27, 2007
...Instead of raiding transportation dollars to help pay for schools, the state is raiding a pot of money set aside for medical malpractice claims...

Editorial: Lawmakers must take swift action to ensure hospitals report medical errors
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, WA - Oct. 27, 2007
...Last week Washingtonians, as they should have been, were outraged that the Washington State Hospital Association seemed to favor covering up medical mistakes...

Doctor-lawyer truce aside, malpractice costs level off
Puget Sound Business Journal, Seattle, WA - Oct. 26, 2007
...Voters said no to both the doctor- and lawyer-backed initiatives, forcing the two sides into a widely hailed truce that soon yielded a state law requiring no-fault doctor apologies, mandatory mediation and better tracking of medical mistakes...

posted by Editor at 12:06 PM

Critics dispute Rendell's assertion malpractice crisis has come to an end
The Bulletin, Philadelphia, PA - Oct. 26, 2007
Some medical professionals and policy analysts strongly dispute Gov. Ed Rendell's assertion on Wednesday that medical malpractice litigation is no longer a problem for the health care field in Pennsylvania...

Pa.'s malpractice woes seem to wane
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Oct. 26, 2007
...Dr. Bruce MacLeod, chairman of Mercy Hospital's emergency medicine department, agreed the malpractice climate is stabilizing, with fewer lawsuits and two major private malpractice insurance carriers filing for rate decreases with the state...

Doctors threaten lawsuit over state budget
Green Bay Press-Gazette, WI (Associated Press) - Oct. 26, 2007
...The Wisconsin Medical Society will file a lawsuit as early as next week challenging a $200 million transfer from the state's patients compensation fund to pay for state health programs, said the group's attorney Tom Pyper...

High court overturns $30 million award in Walter Hollins case
The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH - Oct. 26, 2007
...The verdict was the state's largest medical malpractice award ever. But it was a verdict influenced by passion and tainted by Fieger's theatrics and inappropriate behavior, Justice Terrance O'Donnell wrote in the court's 6-1 opinion...

Hearing further muddies Utah health care morass
Salt Lake Tribune, Utah - Oct. 26, 2007
...But he recommended that Utah first tackle the root of soaring health care costs by passing laws to curtail malpractice lawsuits and direct advertising of prescription drugs...

Scott: Wyoming may revisit malpractice debate
Insurance Journal, CA (Associated Press) - Oct. 26, 2007
...A state senator says he expects another debate in Wyoming over medical malpractice reform, this time without focusing on capping damage awards in malpractice cases...

800 state layoffs were close
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Oct. 25, 2007
...Also Thursday, the Wisconsin Medical Society outlined its plans for filing a lawsuit over a $200 million transfer from the state's Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund included in the budget. Doctors pay into the fund, which is used to cover awards to medical malpractice victims...

posted by Editor at 11:44 AM

Rendell: Medical-malpractice crisis is over
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Oct. 25, 2007
..."The results are almost phenomenal," Rendell said at a news conference at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia building. "It is a problem that has, for all intents and purposes, been resolved." ...

Governor says medical malpractice costs continue to drop instate
The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA (Associated Press) - Oct. 25, 2007
...a sign that the state’s malpractice problem is improving, Gov. Ed Rendell said Wednesday...

Craddick says lawyers behind efforts to oust him
The Dallas Morning News, TX (Associated Press) - Oct. 25, 2007
...The new laws limited medical malpractice jury awards to $250,000 in most cases and $1.6 million in death-related lawsuits. The state only had two insurance companies providing malpractice insurance then and now has nine, he said...

Doyle to sign budget Friday; state doctors to sue
Pierce County Herald, Ellsworth, WI - Oct. 25, 2007
...The State Medical Society will hold a news conference today (Thursday) to explain its effort to drop the budget item which takes $200 million from the fund that pays for malpractice settlements...

Hospital group reversing position on error reporting
The Olympian, Olympia, WA (Associated Press) - Oct. 25, 2007
The Washington State Hospital Association has reversed its position on reporting mistakes following an uproar over efforts to keep details of serious medical errors from the public...

Hospitals say error disclosure requires context
Yakima Herald Republic, WA - Oct. 25, 2007
..Campbell, who sponsored the legislation, said the medical malpractice law cited by the hospital association was not meant to shield hospital records from the public...

Closer look irks doctors
Houston Chronicle, TX - Oct. 24, 2007
...Strengthening efforts were also motivated by tort reform in 2003 since limits on pain-and-suffering damages in malpractice cases shifted much of the watchdog responsibility from the courts to the board...

State doctors could see higher fees
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Oct. 24, 2007
...The decision to transfer that amount from a state fund that pays medical malpractice claims above $1 million will mean higher premiums for doctors and other health care providers, given how the fund works...

Editorial: On to the tweaking
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Oct. 24, 2007
...Give back that $200 million transfer from the Wisconsin Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund, which is used to cover malpractice awards...

Doctor-patient bond frays after medical mistake
CBS News (HealthDay News) -- Oct. 24, 2007
...In many cases, doctors who frankly admitted their mistake and told patients how they would safeguard against future errors avoided litigation by doing so, Delbanco said. Those doctors also maintained strong, long-lasting bonds with the patient and the patient's family...

posted by Editor at 12:28 PM

Budget heads to Doyle's desk
River Falls Journal, WI - Oct. 24, 2007
...A case example is the $200 million dollar raid on the Patients Compensation Fund that will make it more difficult to access affordable health care by jeopardizing our favorable medical malpractice climate in Wisconsin," she added...

Opinion - Dr. Tom Miller: I felt paranoid practicing medicine
The Bluffton News-Banner, IN - Oct. 24, 2007
...As soon as many members of the legal profession learned that the malpractice insurance companies would offer payoffs to keep cases from going to court, there was a stampede toward the practice of what has become known as "Personal Injury Lawyers!"...

Hospitals: New law keeps surgery mistakes hidden
The Bellingham Herald, WA (Associated Press) - Oct. 24, 2007
The Washington State Hospital Association has reversed its position on reporting mistakes following an uproar over efforts to keep details of serious medical errors from the public...

The dangerous C-section epidemic
Baltimore Sun, MD - Oct. 24, 2007
...Though vaginal birth after Caesarean is a low-risk event, hundreds of institutions have banned it, and many doctors will no longer attend it because of malpractice liability...

Regional Briefs: We were wrong
Winston-Salem Journal, NC - Oct. 24, 2007
...A story yesterday gave incorrect information about liability claims filed against Novant Health. The health system had a decrease in the number of malpractice claims filed against it last year, not a slight increase...

Texas physicians blast anonymous complaints
Houston Chronicle, TX - Oct. 23, 2007
...The daylong hearing of a House Appropriations regulatory subcommittee focused on an agency that was once derided for failing to protect patients from dangerous doctors. In 2003, when the Legislature limited damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice cases, it also strengthened the medical board...

posted by Editor at 3:17 PM

GOP renews push for limits on money awards by juries
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - Oct. 23, 2007
...Some of the biggest jury awards involve defendants in the medical profession. That has affected the cost of malpractice insurance and the number of physicians setting up practice in Pennsylvania, Mr. Turzai said...

Largest tax increase ever stopped says Rhoades; other react to budget deal
Pierce County Herald, Ellsworth, WI - Oct. 23, 2007
...An unfortunate part of the compromise, said Harsdorf, is "the raid on the patient compensation fund." The budget will take $200 million from the fund...

Many errors by medical residents caused by teamwork breakdowns, lack of supervision
Muncie Free Press, IN - Oct. 23, 2007
...The study, "Medical Errors Involving Trainees: A Study of Closed Malpractice Claims from 5 Insurers," appears in the October 22, 2007, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine...

Study: Doctor claims falling
Winston-Salem Journal, NC - Oct. 23, 2007
...Medical-liability claims filed against health providers continue to fall because of more patient-safety programs created by hospitals, according to a study by Aon Global Risk Consulting...

Mistakes hospitals don't want you to see
Seattle Times, WA - Oct. 23, 2007
...But last year, when the Legislature passed a sprawling compromise law intended to settle a bitter fight over medical malpractice, it included language in the 63-page bill that the hospital association now says bars public disclosure. It argues that because the reports are to be part of a hospital's "quality improvement process," they are subject to confidentiality protections...

Malpractice insurance dilemma eases
Charlotte Sun, Charlotte Harbor, FL - Oct. 23, 2007
...Florida doctors may finally be getting a little bit of relief after years of double-digit annual increases in their malpractice insurance premiums...

Parents have to demand more of their kids' medical care
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FL - Oct. 23, 2007
..."If you didn't write it," they say, "you didn't do it." This unfortunately also leads to ever-increasing medical malpractice claims as physicians tell patients many words of advice but often write down too few...

Fletcher has compromise
Lexington Herald-Leader, KY - Oct. 23, 2007
...Gov. Ernie Fletcher said that, if re-elected, he will push a "compromise" plan in the 2008 General Assembly to help lower medical liability insurance costs for doctors without capping damages in medical-malpractice lawsuits...

Defensive medicine: Cautious or costly?
CBS News, NY - Oct. 22, 2007
...Defensive medicine is what happens when doctors order too many tests because they are afraid of missing a diagnosis and later losing a multi-million dollar lawsuit for malpractice...

Patient safety conference draws health leaders
Wyoming Business Report, Cheyenne, WY - Oct. 22, 2007
...Michelle Mello, JD, PhD, summarized a research study at the Harvard School of Public Health that showed the majority of medical errors don’t result from the negligence of a single physician or nurse, but are caused by a “system” of errors involving three or more factors...

Wisconsin medical group plans to sue over $200 million fund transfer
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI (Associated Press) - Oct. 22, 2007
The Wisconsin Medical Society is planning to challenge lawmakers’ decision to transfer $200 million from a medical malpractice fund to help balance the budget...

posted by Editor at 1:22 PM

Budget solves one problem, creates another
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, WI - Oct. 22, 2007
...Another major item in the compromise proposal is a $200 million transfer from a fund to compensate patients or the families of patients injured by medical malpractice. That transfer, one-time money that likely won't be available in the next budget, is $25 million more than what Doyle proposed in February...

House Republicans push tort reform
Central Penn Business Journal, Harrisburg, PA - Oct. 22, 2007
...The bill package was announced at a State House press conference headlined by Dick Thornburgh, a former U.S. attorney general and Pennsylvania governor. The package includes constitutional amendments that would allow the Legislature to cap attorneys’ fees and non-economic damages awarded in liability cases.

Showing lawyers the door
Barron's - Oct. 22, 2007
...A new study from Aon Global Risk Consulting says malpractice costs have reached an inflection point. "There is no longer a crisis, and costs are down to more historical levels seen back in 1999," says Aon's Gregory Larcher, author of the report...

WellPoint doctors to get Zagat ratings
USA Today - Oct. 22, 2007
...WellPoint says its Zagat survey will not include information about medical expertise or other factors, such as malpractice settlements...

State budget deal reached
Pierce County Herald, Ellsworth, WI - Oct. 22, 2007
...The Republicans also agreed to a $200 million raid on the patient's compensation fund. This fund is used to help protect doctors from malpractice lawsuits and has made Wisconsin more attractive to physicians...

Gingrich's causes -- and health group clients -- can be profitable
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA - Oct. 22, 2007
...Gingrich also champions a concept called "medical justice," which offers consumers lower-cost insurance if they accept limits on malpractice lawsuits...

Editorial: A short-term budget
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI - Oct. 21, 2007
...The budget will include a transfer of $200 million from the Patient Compensation Fund, a pool of money funded by doctors and used to pay for large medical malpractice claims. The Wisconsin Medical Society said it will sue to stop the transfer...

Health care providers urged to go high-tech
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus, VT - Oct. 21, 2007
...And the system lets him verify that patients referred to specialists have not fallen between the cracks -- something that is important "from the malpractice standpoint."...

Heat on smokers
Albany Democrat-Herald, OR - Oct. 20, 2007
...The real problem with health care isn't access but cost, he argued, and what's needed is a holistic approach that would include limits on malpractice awards, elimination of excessive coverage requirements, and incentives to reduce unnecessary tests and procedures...

Local mammography rates buck national trend
The Eureka Reporter, CA - Oct. 20, 2007
..."Failure to diagnose breast cancer is now the leading type of malpractice lawsuit," Mahoney said. "A survey in the journal Radiology in 2005 reported that half of the radiologists responding had been a defendant in a lawsuit. Are half of our radiologists negligent? Highly unlikely...

Malpractice insurer to buy major rival based in L.A.
San Francisco Business Times, CA - Oct. 19, 2007
...Both companies were founded by doctors in 1976, the year after reforms in California capped medical malpractice damage awards, and they share similar values and goals, according to the principles...

posted by Editor at 2:58 PM

Folmer pitches alternative to governor's health plan
Lebanon Daily News, Lebanon, PA - Oct. 19, 2007
...It seeks to lower malpractice costs by ensuring that doctors who lost their licenses in other states don’t get one here...

Dems fall short in bid to overturn Bush's veto of kids' health insurance expansion
Salt Lake Tribune, UT - Oct. 19, 2007
...Providing a tax break so families could buy private health insurance and ensuring that only worthy medical malpractice cases make it to court would do more than any government program ever could."...

Rates to insure doctors stable
The Denver Post, CO - Oct. 19, 2007
...Medical-malpractice insurance rates will remain stable for a second year for Colorado physicians covered by Copic Insurance Co., though doctors in certain specialties could see an increase or decline in rates, the company said Thursday...

Physicians organization honors area senators
Dallas Business Journal, TX - Oct. 18, 2007
...Carona led the effort to ensure physicians are properly reimbursed by health plans when they join an in-network group, and he blocked efforts to weaken parts of the 2003 medical liability reforms...

posted by Editor at 1:29 PM

Anti-tax group, state workers hold competing rallies at Capitol
Ironwood Daily Globe, MI - Oct. 18, 2007
...Doyle, and the Democratic-led Senate, want to increase cigarette taxes by $1.25 per pack, impose a new tax on hospitals to generate more federal money for treating Medicaid patients, and transfer $175 million out of a fund used to pay malpractice claims...

Work in progress
The State Journal, Charleston, WV - Oct. 18, 2007
..."Reforms are in place for medical malpractice insurance and workers' compensation insurance, and they should move forward," she said...

Lawmaker seeks reform in medical malpractice lawsuits
Wisconsin Radio Network, WI - Oct. 18, 2007
...Plale says families left behind are not allowed to sue for loss of companionship under current state law. He's sponsoring a bill that allows the families of single adults to sue for medical malpractice...

Malpractice debate may be revived
Billings Gazette, MT - Oct. 18, 2007
A state senator says he expects another debate in Wyoming over medical malpractice reform, this time without focusing on capping damage awards in malpractice cases...

posted by Editor at 10:39 PM

Doyle: Government, university system shutdown may be necessary
The Journal Times, Racine, WI (Associated Press)- Oct. 17, 2007
...Republicans rejected the plan in a special session Monday. They said they could not support a $1.25 per pack cigarette tax increase, a new tax on hospital profits and a $175 million transfer from a fund for medical malpractice claims. Democrats say those moves are needed to fund health care programs and other services...

posted by Editor at 5:18 PM

Assembly rejects budget plan
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI - Oct. 16, 2007
...Republicans sounded a similar theme in the Assembly, saying they disagreed most strongly with higher cigarette taxes, a new tax on hospitals and a transfer of $175 million from a fund used to pay malpractice claims...

Senate passes budget proposal, Assembly likely to reject it
Portage Daily Register, WI - Oct. 16, 2007
...Also in Doyle's proposal is a $175 million transfer from a fund used to pay medical malpractice claims, a move the Wisconsin Medical Society said would put the fund at dangerously low levels and may trigger a lawsuit to block it...

SCPIE Holdings to be acquired for $281 mln
Reuters - Oct. 16, 2007
...agreed to be acquired by Doctors Co, a medical malpractice carrier...

Opinion - Paul O-Neill: A health care bargain
New York Times, NY - Oct. 16, 2007
...No other sector of our society does such a bad job of learning from things gone wrong. A major reason for this is that the fear of malpractice suits leads doctors and hospitals to withhold information on bad incidents...

posted by Editor at 12:57 PM

The changing business of medicine
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Oct. 15, 2007
...Rather than worrying about paperwork, insurance, malpractice and other bottom-line concerns, "younger physicians just want to see patients and practice medicine."...

Editorial: Preserve tort reform
Southeast Texas Record, Beaumont, TX - Oct. 15, 2007
...Medical malpractice reform, we now know, is working for Texas. We mean for the patients. It isn't working for the trial lawyers, to be sure. But then again, it wasn't intended to...

Malpractice screening laws under scrutiny
Nashua Telegraph, NH (Associated Press) - Oct. 14, 2007
A two-year-old law that was supposed to speed up the processing of medical malpractice lawsuits has slowed things down instead...

Editorial: Big-ticket compromises key to budget
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI - Oct. 14, 2007
...Doyle had proposed -- and the Republican leadership has concurred -- to take $175 million from the fund, which doctors pay into to handle large medical malpractice judgments. The fund should be left alone...

Screening panels consider negligence
The Citizen, Laconia, NH (Associated Press) - Oct. 14, 2007
...Medical malpractice screening panels were developed in the 1970s in response to complaints that claims were driving up insurance rates, forcing some doctors to give up their practices...

Malpractice caps pay off for the public
The News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA - Oct. 13, 2007
...Malpractice insurance premiums have driven more physicians than you’d think out of business or into early retirements, and the losers are the hundreds or thousands of patients who depend on them for care...

Doyle sweetens 2nd state budget
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Oct. 13, 2007
...Doyle's budget includes more than $1 billion in new taxes and revenue increases - including a tax on hospitals, a $1.25-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax and a $175 million, one-time transfer from the state fund that helps pay medical malpractice claims...

Medical malpractice insurance crisis may be easing, study shows
Naples Daily News, FL - Oct. 13, 2007
...State insurance regulators found premium rates for 2006 decreased by 3 percent from the year before for physicians and surgeons, with 32 insurance companies writing medical malpractice policies...

posted by Editor at 10:37 AM

Do medical malpractice screening panels lower costs or save time?
Insurance Journal, CA (Associated Press) - Oct. 12, 2007
...A two-year-old New Hampshire law that was supposed to speed up the processing of medical malpractice lawsuits has slowed things down instead....

Evidence v. emotion: How medical malpractice screening panels work
Insurance Journal, CA (Associated Press) - Oct. 12, 2007
...Medical malpractice screening panels were developed in the 1970s in response to complaints that claims were driving up insurance rates, forcing some doctors to give up their practices. Supporters hoped the panels would help contain costs by screening out weak cases and resolving the rest as early and inexpensively as possible...

Senate GOP rejects raid on patients comp fund
Wisconsin Radio Network, WI - Oct. 12, 2007
...Will Governor Jim Doyle be able to transfer money from a fund designed to compensate victims of medical malpractice? Not if Republicans in the state Senate have anything to say about it...

Assembly head sees rejection for Doyle budget plan
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, WI - Oct. 12, 2007
...That proposal included a 75 cent per-pack increase in the cigarette tax and a transfer of $175 million from a state fund used to pay the victims of medical malpractice and paid for by the state 's doctors...

posted by Editor at 1:49 PM

AMC explains doctor shortage, recruiting
The Adirondack Daily Enterprise, NY - Oct. 11, 2007
...Unlike salaries, which vary greatly all over the state and are much higher in larger cities, malpractice insurance is uniform throughout New York...

McCain proposes $5,000 health insurance tax credit
The Des Moines Register, IA - Oct. 11, 2007
...Impose limits on medical malpractice damage awards and provide legal protection for physicians who follow clinical guidelines and adhere to patient safety protocols...

Phyhealth closes on $2.5M financing
Tech Journal South, Research Triangle Park, NC - Oct. 11, 2007
...Phyhealth intends to offer additional value-added products and services in cooperation with physicians, including medical malpractice insurance...

Eyeing the risks of LASIK eye surgery
Seattle Times, WA - Oct. 11, 2007
...Few complaints become lawsuits, said Bill Faison, a well-known medical malpractice lawyer in Durham, N.C., who has represented one LASIK patient in court in the past three years...

Doyle revisits budget
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Oct. 10, 2007
...Doyle's plan also includes a $175 million transfer from the state account that pays medical malpractice claims. Huebsch has said he could accept that, though doctors have threatened a court fight...

Opinion - Phil Galewitz: The real story about medical malpractice insurance
Palm Beach Post, FL - Oct. 10, 2007
Strike up a conversation with a doctor in Palm Beach County about almost anything and pretty quickly, he or she will mention the “horrible” medical malpractice climate in the state...

posted by Editor at 3:10 PM

MFEP: "Mississippi at crossroad"
WTOK-TV/DT, Meridian, MS - Oct. 10, 2007
...Tort reform has also capped the amount of damages a plaintiff may seek in a civil trial. And by creating fewer lawsuits, medical malpractice insurance rates are lower, allowing more doctors to return to Mississippi...

Budget brouhaha: Mistrust between GOP and Dems reaches toxic level
The Capital Times, Madison, WI - Oct. 10, 2007
...Huebsch said Tuesday that the GOP's latest offer included the 75-cents-a-pack cigarette tax hike and a $175 million transfer from the state's fund to pay medical malpractice claims (the Patients Compensation Fund). Republicans and the State Medical Society had previously called the move a "raid."...

Insurers vs. lawyers: What's behind the Referendum 67 fight
The Seattle Times, WA - Oct. 10, 2007
...In many ways, Referendum 67 has become a replay of the battle waged two years ago over competing medical-malpractice ballot measures...

Editorial: Referendum 67: Yes
Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, WA - Oct. 10, 2007
...Insurers used similar scare stories two years ago about the initiative to cap medical malpractice awards. But after voters rejected the measure, malpractice insurance rates declined, Kreidler told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer...

Primary care in a state of emergency?
Laramie Boomerang, WY - Oct. 10, 2007
...Deterrents range from community size to the continuing debate over medical malpractice insurance rates and can even include Wyoming’s sometimes-harsh climate and landscape...

posted by Editor at 4:37 PM

Doctors are helped by Medical Justice
Winston-Salem Journal, NC - Oct. 9, 2007
Physicians nationwide spend about $15 billion a year on medical-malpractice premiums. One regional company is trying to reduce their costs...

Editorial: Malpractice awards a pain for patients
The Republican, Springfield, MA - Oct. 9, 2007
...Insurers blame the premium increases on the rising number of malpractice lawsuits and large jury awards levied against doctors...

posted by Editor at 12:23 PM

Unhappy endings
The Boston Globe, MA - Oct. 8, 2007
...ProMutual Group, the largest medical malpractice insurer in Massachusetts, said the most common reason physicians call the company's telephone consultation service is for advice on when and how to call it quits...

Panel seeks committee on workers' comp
The Register-Herald, Beckley, WV - Oct. 8, 2007
...reminded the Mercer County lawmaker that a similar oversight committee was crafted in the medical malpractice controversy a few years ago to assess progress on reform legislation...

Opinion - Michael D. Shaw: Let the dead speak: Reversing the decline in autopsies
Health News Digest, New York, NY - Oct. 8, 2008
...Doctors and hospitals are fearful that autopsy results could be used against them in malpractice suits (and judging from Lundberg's comments, they may be right)...

Referendum heavyweight back on the card
Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, WA - Oct. 7, 2007
...They last went head-to-head in 2005 when the insurance industry pitched in to help the medical community push its ill-fated medical malpractice measure...

Donations pour in on battling sides of issue
The Olympian, Olympia, WA - Oct. 7, 2007
...The more than $10 million raised by the two sides makes it the second-most costly measure in state history so far -- eclipsed only by a fight between doctors, consumers and lawyers in 2005 over medical malpractice...

Brain traumas challenge strapped Strand facilities
The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC - Oct. 7, 2007
...Neurosurgeons face the highest average malpractice claim payments of 28 medical specialties studied by the Physician Insurers Association of America. They paid an average of $300,843 per claim between 1985 and 2005...

Fire rescue official assesses situation
The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC - Oct. 7, 2007
...This scenario drives malpractice prices ever higher and the professional rewards for any practitioner who would dare to delve into a patient's brain in search of a healing miracle becomes far smaller as the risks grow ever greater...

Legislation proposed to expand emergency care
The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC - Oct. 7, 2007
...South Carolina has already taken some steps, and 36 states are considering some type of medical malpractice legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures...

Editorial: Neurosurgeon shortage leaves health system's patients at risk
The Fayetteville Observer, NC - Oct. 7, 2007
...For brain surgeons the problem is threefold: too much work, too little pay and high malpractice insurance rates...

Opinion - Rebecca J. Britton: Doctors have protection
The Fayetteville Observer, NC - Oct. 7, 2007
...While malpractice carriers have consistently jacked up rates for physicians, some are now finally leveling off, which makes sense since malpractice claims are at an all-time low in North Carolina...

2nd latest budget and counting
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, WI - Oct. 6, 2007
...Robson said the budget could easily be finished in short order, if Republicans accept a package that includes raising the cigarette tax by $1.25 per pack, tapping $175 million in the state's medical malpractice fund and imposing a new tax on hospitals...

State opposes doctors refund
The Baltimore Sun, MD - Oct. 6, 2007
...The state's largest malpractice insurer must pay its entire $68.6 million dividend to the state or cut its premiums, but it can't distribute any of the money to doctors, the Maryland Insurance Administration argued yesterday...

posted by Editor at 2:29 PM

Maryland docs seek reduction in malpractice insurance rates
Washington Business Journal, DC - Oct. 5, 2007
...Doctors practicing in Maryland are calling for a reduction in their medical malpractice premiums after a decision by the state's largest medical liability insurer to give back $32.5 million in state funds ...

Med Mutual owes state its dividend, regulator says
Baltimore Sun, MD - Oct. 5, 2007
...The state's largest malpractice insurer must turn over its entire $68.6 million dividend to the state -- not return $24 million to the doctors as planned -- the Maryland Insurance Administration argued at a hearing today...

Impact of medical errors on physicians
Physician's News Digest, Narberth, PA
...Being named in a medical malpractice lawsuit can produce devastating emotional disruption of a physician’s professional and personal life...

Malpractice caps lure docs to Texas
Physorg.com, VA (UPI) - Oct. 5, 2007
..."Doctors are coming to Texas because they sense a friendlier malpractice climate," he said....

More doctors in Texas after malpractice caps
New York Times, NY - Oct.5, 2007
...Four years after Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors are responding as supporters predicted, arriving from all parts of the country to swell the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring professional health care to some long-underserved rural areas...

State faces doctor drought
Herald Leader, Lexington, KY - Oct. 5, 2007
...The group suggested several changes that could help increase the number of doctors in the state. Among them:...Enacting tort reforms, which the Kentucky Medical Association has long lobbied for, arguing that it would lower the cost of medical malpractice insurance and make Kentucky a more attractive state in which to practice...

posted by Editor at 5:40 PM

Editorial: Don't limit court awards for suffering
Newsday, Long Island, NY - Oct. 4, 2007
...The high cost of malpractice insurance is a problem. But adding insult to patients' injuries by arbitrarily limiting jury awards is not the answer...

posted by Editor at 5:16 PM

Fla. releases medical malpractice report, favorable trend continues
Insurance Journal, CA - Oct. 3, 3007
A recent state-sponsored report showed a continuing trend of recovery for the Florida medical malpractice industry – an industry that experienced double-digit rate increases and lack of availability prior to the 2003 legislative reforms...

Mo. Governor: 2006 med mal report shows positive results
Insurance Journal, CA - Oct. 2, 2007
...The medical malpractice insurance market has stabilized following escalating medical malpractice costs that caused a downturn in the market from 1999 - 2003, according to the 2006 Medical Malpractice Report recently released by the Governor's office...

Medical Society vows suit if state raids fund
The Business Journal of Milwaukee, Oct. 2, 2007
...Gov. Jim Doyle proposed taking $200 million from the fund in the 2003-2005 budget, $179 million in the 2005-2007 budget and $175 million in the current proposed budget...

posted by Editor at 1:34 PM

Supreme Court refuses Carnival case
South Florida Business Journal, Deerfield Beach, FL - Oct. 2, 2007
...The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case involving whether Carnival Corp. is responsible for the malpractice of its onboard physicians, letting stand a Florida Supreme Court ruling in favor of Carnival...

Justices reject Carnival case
Miami Herald, FL - Oct. 2, 2007
...The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case involving Miami-based Carnival Corp. that upheld long-standing law that cruise lines aren't liable for the malpractice of their onboard physicians...

Mediation now a first step in medical malpractice suits
Suburban Journals, Town and Country, MO - Oct. 2, 2007
...The Madison County Medical Malpractice Rule calls for mandatory mediation on all medical malpractice cases in the 3rd Circuit Court, with lawyers on both sides picking the mediator or judge on the case...

Opinion - Nancy Salvato: Doctor shortage, the next pandemic
American Daily, Phoenix, AZ - Oct. 2, 2007
...until litigation caps are imposed in the seventeen "crisis" states, there will still be shortages of doctors in areas where medical liability premiums discourage establishing a practice...

posted by Editor at 10:49 AM

Watchdog group launches Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week
Southeast Texas Record, Beaumont, TX - Oct. 1, 2007
..."While reforms went far in putting the brakes on the medical liability lawsuit gravy train, lawsuits continue to threaten our health care system so we must remain vigilant."...

Brooklyn midwife's pratice thrives as expectant moms seek natural deliveries
New York Daily News, NY - Oct. 1, 2007
...That's just one of several expenses that cuts into profits. One of the biggest is malpractice insurance, which last year cost about $20,000...

Editorial: New medical complex for beach area could help bring new doctors
The News Journal, Wilmington, DE - Oct. 1, 2007
...Malpractice premiums and inadequate insurance reimbursements are deterring some who once considered a career in medicine, and fewer doctors are choosing specialties that don't have lucrative reimbursements...

Column - Clay Robison: Group for lawsuit reform didn't check volunteer speaker's record
San Antonio Express-News, TX - Oct. 1, 2007
...And, according to state records, Fleming was sued or threatened with suits for malpractice three times. All were settled out of court or resolved through mediation for undisclosed terms...

No debate: Health care for boomers is a big issue
Daily Press, Newport News, VA - Sept. 30, 2007
...Del. Glenn Oder, who represents the 94th district, said rising medical malpractice insurance was also driving professionals out of health care. "Those rare cases are causing insurance premiums to rise to such a point that it's driving doctors out of the profession."...

Opinion - Gary Kraeger: Health care is more like bread than roads
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Sept. 30, 2007
...Add to that all of the malpractice insurance and defensive medicine that's practiced, and you got yourself sticker shock...

Operation: Vacation
The Modesto Bee, CA - Sept. 30, 2007
...Health-industry representatives said U.S. health care costs more, in part, because of skyrocketing malpractice insurance rates and higher wages and benefits for hospital workers...

Prisons face growing elderly population as states confront rising costs of their health care
Contra Costa Times, CA (Associated Press) - Sept. 30, 2007
...A federal judge in 2006 appointed a receiver to oversee California's prison system after finding that an average of one inmate a week was dying of neglect or malpractice. A new report issued by the receiver found that as many as 66 inmates died last year because of poor medical care...

Opinion - Ed Crawford: Be wary of what you wish for with 'free' health care
Lake Sun Leader, Camdenton, MO - Sept. 29, 2007
...With socialized medicine, the government will dictate the doctor's fees. Would it also set a limit on his office expenses and medical supplies? What about malpractice insurance?...

Med Pro seeks Millennium
Philadelphia Business Journal, PA - Sept. 28, 2007
...Based in Fort Wayne, Ind., Medical Protective, known as Med Pro, is the largest writer of medical malpractice insurance policies in Pennsylvania, with 12.6 percent of the market...

Unsettled school aid to add taxes
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Sept. 28, 2007
...Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) said he could accept a $1.25-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax and a transfer from the fund that pays medical malpractice claims to pay for other health-care costs...

posted by Editor at 3:46 PM