Robinson Group Strategic Communications Robinson Group Strategic Communications Robinson Group Strategic Communications Robinson Group Strategic Communications Robinson Group Strategic Communications


About RSS Feeds

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

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.

Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, February 28, 2007
 
Doctors put lawyers on defensive
Daily Freeman, Kingston, NY - Feb. 28, 2007
...The latest phase in a long-running battle, the campaign asks patients to send postcards to selected state legislators, urging them to pass bills that target malpractice laws...

Charleston surgeon wins self-insurance lawsuit
The Charleston Gazette, WV - Feb. 28, 2007
...A West Virginia Supreme Court ruling issued Tuesday upheld a Charleston surgeon's right to provide his own medical malpractice insurance...

Court refuses to hear appeal in self-insured doctor case
Charleston Daily Mail, WV (Associated Press) - Feb. 28, 2007
...The state Supreme Court has refused to hear Charleston Area Medical Center's appeal of a 2005 circuit court ruling that upheld a physician's right to provide his own medical malpractice insurance...

Malpractice reforms alive in the Hawaii Legislature - but not for the reasons many might expect
Hawaii Reporter, HI - Feb. 28, 2007
...With Hawaii physicians leaving the state and hospitals suffering a shortage of personnel, doctors have pointed to high malpractice insurance rates as a major factor in Hawaii's medical crisis...

Editorial: A look back at 'Hillary Care'
Buffalo Reflex, Buffalo, MO - Feb. 28, 2007
...And by the way, under the Clinton plan nobody would be able to file a malpractice lawsuit against a doctor or the government...

Editorial: Tracking medical errors
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, IN - Feb. 28, 2007
...the requirement to report "serious adverse events" to state government and, ultimately, to us, the patients, is a tremendous inducement to cut down on those medical mistakes...

Local insurer revenues up from 2006 earnings
The Birmingham News, AL - Feb. 28, 2007
...The medical malpractice insurer earned $34.7 million, or $1.04 a share, in the fourth quarter of 2005...

Nip tuck: The untold truth about plastic surgery by Susan Marley
American Chronicle, CA - Feb. 28, 2007
...The other issue is the cost of malpractice and unrealistic expectations created by TV shows. The malpractice environment in Florida has definitely had an impact on recruitment to the area."...

Tennesseans liking Bredesen, Legislature more, fundamentalists less
The Murfreesboro Post, TN - Feb. 27, 2007
...Most Tennesseans (65%) say malpractice suits filed against health-care providers should be required to pass a review by medical experts before being heard by a jury...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, February 27, 2007
 
Fear factor
Florida Trend, St. Petersburg, FL - Feb. 27, 2007
...After years of warfare, the smoke is clearing on Florida's medical-malpractice front...

Hospitals face crisis, lawmakers are warned
Star Bulletin, Honolulu, HI - Feb. 27, 2007
...Meiers also is hoping for some malpractice reform this session to help retain and attract doctors, especially to rural areas....

Editorial: Our view: No consolation
Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA - Feb. 27, 2007
...The dispute will rage on over whether lawsuits are a good way to redress wrongful deaths, but some grief is beyond the capacity of money to relieve...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, February 26, 2007
 
Lobbyists' influence knows few bounds
The News Journal, Wilmington, DE - Feb. 26, 2007
...The other would have created a fund to help doctors in high-risk practices, such as obstetrics and gynecology, pay malpractice premiums. The cash would come from $1.2 million of Blue Cross' $148 million in reserves...

Opinion - Wayne Christeson: TMA v. TTLA
Nashville Scene, TN - Feb. 26, 2007
A hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled tomorrow afternoon (2/27) to consider two changes in the laws governing medical malpractice litigation in Tennessee...

Selling lets docs focus on patients
The Columbus Dispatch, OH - Feb. 26, 2007
...The doctors are freed from negotiating insurance contracts and paying for malpractice insurance; they can stop being small-business owners and focus on medicine...

Bills could be focus of tort-reform push
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO - Feb. 26, 2007
...Ten bills introduced earlier this month by state Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Westmont -- and companion legislation expected to be filed this week in the Illinois House -- are among the top priorities for the Republican-backed business interests that have waged a war in recent years with a strong lobby of trial lawyers and Democrats...

State of liability
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Feb. 26, 2007
...The American Medical Association has updated its medical liability map for 2007. Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and West Virginia moved off the crisis list of states where medical liability insurance rates force physicians to retire early, eliminate high-risk procedures or leave the state...

Hospital's waiver concerns lawyers
Times-Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA - Feb. 26, 2007
...A medical waiver utilized by a local hospital has come under fire from two area attorneys who fear patients may be unwittingly signing away their rights to seek a jury trial if they are injured through malpractice...

Grieving parents want greater legal rights
The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA - Feb. 26, 2007
..."I really understand your pain," Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, told Kirkpatrick during a hearing on a similar Senate proposal, SB 5816. Carrell said he, too, lost a son due to medical malpractice. "The question I would ask you: Is money ever going to take away that hurt?"...

Opinion - Steve Jacob: Is there a doctor in the house?
Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, TX - Feb. 25, 2007
...At least the state appears to have made significant progress on the malpractice front. The Legislature passed Proposition 12 in 2003, limiting pain-and-suffering damages to $250,000...

From retired caregivers, a spoonful of compassion
Boston Globe, MA - Feb. 25, 2007
...Most retired doctors no longer pay for malpractice insurance, so the organization needs to figure out how to protect them from possible lawsuits...

Opinion - Kevin Landrigan: Will lawyers' 'revenge' end tradition?
The Telegraph, Nashua, NH - Feb. 25, 2007
...Now comes HB143, a single paragraph of tort law that makes it easier for injury victims to recover damages in civil lawsuits. Yes, those would include suits for medical malpractice...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, February 23, 2007
 
Editorial: Consumers, doctors need insurance relief
The Citizens Voice, Wilkes-Barre, PA - Feb. 23, 2007
...Here, the state government has reacted in several ways but, incredibly, has yet to bring health care insurers and medical malpractice insurers into the equation...

Jury adds timely fuel to debate on malpractice
The Tennessean, Nashville, TN - Feb. 23, 2007
...Awards of high damages, as well as frivolous lawsuits, are behind a renewed effort in the Tennessee legislature to pass a bill to cap damage awards, the bill's promoters say...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, February 22, 2007
 
Opinion – Paul Harrington: My Turn: Doctor shortage cuts access to care
Burlington Free Press, VT – Feb. 22, 2007
…Medical malpractice insurance premiums have increased significantly. Other costs such as salaries and rent are going up…

Opinion – Sen. Sam Slom: Hold onto your wallet!
Hawaii Report, HI – Feb. 22, 2007
…Medical malpractice insurance costs must be stemmed or Hawaii will lose more needed physicians and surgeons…

Opinion – Bob Youngerman: Time for health care system to police itself on cost control or suffer the consequences
Asheville Citizen-Times, NC – Feb. 22, 2007
…First, enactment of tort reform with a cap on jury awards is absolutely essential. The high cost of malpractice insurance, which is passed on to third-party payers, has forced many physicians to practice a form of defensive medicine…

For ND docs, sorry doesn’t mean you get sued
In-Forum, ND (Associated Press) – Feb. 22, 2007
…North Dakota senators voted 43-0 on Wednesday to endorse the so-called "I'm sorry" law, which says a health care provider's "expressions of empathy" may not be used against him or her in a malpractice lawsuit…

Illinois malpractice case may shape tort reform
NPR – Feb. 21, 2007
…brain-damaged baby in Illinois is at the center of one of the latest battles over tort reform…

Bush sells healthcare package in Tennessee
United Press International – Feb. 21, 2007
…Defensive medicine is costing the federal government $28 billion per year, Bush said, and the only solution is to place limits on medical malpractice lawsuits…

Magazine: Alabama among top 10 in health care
Birmingham Business Journal, AL – Feb. 21, 2007
…Alabama was ranked 16th nationally for its health care facilities, 37th for its health care providers, 10th for its health insurance costs, seventh for its health care provider costs and 24th for its malpractice insurance costs…


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
 
Childbirth out at MVH
The Valley Independent, Monessen, PA - Feb. 21, 2007
… Weber said hospitals have had a difficult time recruiting obstetricians in recent years because of Pennsylvania's rising malpractice insurance rates. The highest cost associated with those rates for obstetricians is in child delivery….

Weis suit a mistrial as juror collapses
Cape Cod Times, MA (Associated Press) - Feb. 21, 2007
… A judge declared a mistrial yesterday in Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis' medical malpractice lawsuit after a juror collapsed and several doctors - including the two defendants - rushed to his aid…

Kansas ranks high among physicians
The Wichita Eagle, KS – Feb. 21, 2007
… Its analysis considered the cost of living as well as physician-oriented business factors, such as reimbursement rates, physicians per capita and the malpractice liability climate…


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
 
Hearing may be major step toward state constitutional convention
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - Feb. 20, 2007
...If things get too wide open -- for instance, changing gun control laws, or limiting gun purchases, or limiting legalized abortions, or imposing caps on damages in medical liability lawsuits -- discussions could easily bog down and necessary government reforms might not be discussed, he said...

Malpractice-award cap getting new look
The Honolulu Advertiser, HI - Feb. 20, 2007
...trial lawyers, and even some doctors, say the Lingle administration has overstated the link between malpractice reform and reducing doctor shortages...

Opinion - Andrew Walen: Big Island doctors call out for help
Hawaii Reporter, Honolulu, HI - Feb. 20, 2007
...The Hawaii State Legislature, dominated by Democrats who answer to trial lawyers, has refused to act on the tort reforms needed to lower malpractice premiums...

Opinion - Debra Henley: Med-mal insurers gain; doctors don't
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Feb. 20, 2007
...You need only scan an insurance industry trade publication to see that "times are good" in Florida's medical malpractice market...

Editorial: Let patients know about bad doctors
The Roanoke Times, VA - Feb. 20, 2007
...Both the Virginia House and Senate have passed versions of a bill to require the state Board of Medicine to post information online about medical malpractice suits and disciplinary action against doctors. With the growing infatuation with medical choice, patients' decisions should be informed...

Advice for doctors: protect your assets
News 8 Austin, TX - Feb. 19, 2007
...First off, it’s important to practice sound medicine. Texas now has litigation caps on malpractice, so you may have been able to reduce your coverage lately...

Editorial: Consumer advocacy has new opportunity in insurance agency
Daily and Sunday Review, Towanda, PA - Feb. 19, 2007
...neither the administration nor the Legislature brought the insurance industry to the table to help resolve a long medical malpractice insurance crisis that threatened public access to health care...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, February 19, 2007
 
Opinion - Mike Hall: One way to ease the burden
The Topeka Capital-Journal, KS - Feb. 19, 2007
...Government regulations, cutbacks in what Medicare and private insurance companies will pay, increasing malpractice insurance premiums and the debt acquired in medical school and beyond were increasingly frustrating, he said...

Malpractice law reforms of 2005 get mixed review
The Times, Gainesville, GA - Feb. 18, 2007
... Almost two years after the Georgia General Assembly passed a "tort reform" law, doctors say they have not seen a significant reduction in their malpractice premiums. But supporters of the 2005 law say that doesn't mean the measure isn't working...

Editorial: Doyle's budget has good intentions, but doubts remain
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI - Feb. 18, 2007
...Doyle also plans to take $175 million from the Patient Compensation Fund, which is funded by doctors and hospitals to pay for large medical malpractice awards. He's tried that in past budgets...

Opinion - Stan Alekna: Everyone has work to do to solve issue of health care
Lebanon Daily News, PA - Feb. 17, 2007
...Having other health-care professionals deliver care that is currently provided by doctors and dentists could be a boom to the malpractice attorneys and create yet additional costs...

Lawmakers tout bills in works
The Jackson Sun, Jackson, TN - Feb. 17, 2007
...Eldridge said it was also likely that lawmakers would consider several bills on medical malpractice lawsuits. "They will probably include putting a cap on some benefits," he said...

Trying to end a loophole
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier, CA - Feb. 17, 2007
..."The state has created regulatory agencies to license health care professionals in order to protect patients, but those same health care practitioners can use gag clauses in malpractice settlements to prevent the licensing agency from finding out about their abuses," Eng said...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, February 16, 2007
 
Hospitals oppose 'medical tourism' bill
Charleston Daily Mail, WV - Feb. 16, 2007
...Patients harmed by a foreign physician would have little or no recourse if they wanted to file a medical malpractice suit, Gregory said...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, February 15, 2007
 
Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007, at the North Carolina General Assembly
The Charlotte Observer, NC (Associated Press) - Feb 15, 2007
... H245, to establish a comprehensive classification rating plan for medical malpractice insurance. Sponsors: Reps. Bill Faison, D-Orange; Linda Coleman, D-Wake...

Give Missouri midwives a break, panel is told
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO - Feb. 15, 2007
...The bill does not require midwives to carry medical malpractice insurance. It does, however, state that no other medical professional can be held liable for a midwife's errors...

APCapital climbs 21 percent in 4th quarter
Lansing State Journal, MI - Feb. 15, 2007
...Medical malpractice insurance provider American Physicians Capital Inc.'s profit rose 21 percent during the fourth quarter...

Bills sail through subcommittees despite equal party split in Senate
The Norman Transcript, Norman, OK - Feb. 14, 2007
...Paddack's bill would move the language away from medical liability to professional negligence or professional liability, to avoid being too specific...


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
 
Reaction mixed to Doyle's budget; criticisms include proposed fee increases, hospital tax
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI - Feb. 14, 2007
...Huebsch said the proposed hospital tax and a $175 million transfer out of the malpractice fund will not survive...

Budget aims to improve health care in state
The Badger Herald, University of Wisconsin - Madison, WI - Feb. 14, 2007
...Doyle proposed transferring $175 million in fiscal year 2008 from a segregated state fund that contributes money to injured patients as a result of litigation...

Opinion - Pat Glass: Condition critical for crisis in health care
Bradenton Herald, FL - Feb. 14, 2007
...Ask doctors, and a serious lament is malpractice insurance. Talk to doctors who are ready to weep over the emergency room epidemic. Talk to the nurses and other professionals on the front line, many of whom can't even afford to own homes here...

Opinion - Carol Ritter, M.D.: As the doctor (if...he's still in)
The Examiner, Baltimore, MD - Feb. 14, 2007
...Maryland’s malpractice system functions on blame and greed creating a win/lose lawsuit lottery that pits patients against doctors. Defensive medicine drains $800 Million dollars from Maryland’s health care system annually...

Opinion - Bill Shipp: Legacy on health care will live on
Gwinnett Daily Post, GA - Feb. 14, 2007
...Tort laws need to be modified so doctors’ malpractice insurance premiums can come way down. Everyone pays for malpractice coverage...

Opinion - Steven Pearlstein: Adding up the reasons for expensive health care
The Washington Post, DC - Feb. 14, 2007
...Don't be distracted by arguments that American doctors need to make more because they have to pay $20 billion a year in malpractice insurance premiums forced on them by a hostile legal system, or...

Doyle budget: Boost medical coverage, raise taxes
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, WI - Feb. 13, 2007
...That included a $175 million transfer from a fund to help cover major damages for malpractice victims that Republicans have blocked in the past...

Diane Koken, Pennsylvania's chief insurance regulator for nearly a decade, handed in her resignation Tuesday, Gov. Ed Rendell said
NEPA News, PA (Associated Press) - Feb. 13, 2007
...She also oversaw implementation of the Mcare assessment abatement program that has helped rein in malpractice insurance expenses for health care providers...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, February 13, 2007
 
Proposal: Require insurance commissioner to OK rate hikes
AccessNorthGa.com, Gainesville, GA (Associated Press) - Feb. 13, 2007
House Republicans introduced a measure Monday that requires Georgia's top insurance official to sign off on each medical malpractice rate hike, saying they're unconvinced that new state laws aimed at suppressing medical malpractice are working...

Editorial: Diagnosis: myopia
Star-Telegram, Forth Worth, TX - Feb. 13, 2007
...After Texans voted in 2003 to pass Proposition 12 to limit doctors' medical liability, the state became a popular destination for out-of-state physicians. License applications increased from about 2,500 in 2003 to more than 4,000 in 2006...

Editorial: Do the right thing
The Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA - Feb. 13, 2007
...But when it came to assigning blame for high costs, respondents dwelled on marginal factors, such as malpractice claims and medical companies' profits...

Protection wanted for state's malpractice fund
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, WI - Feb. 13, 2007
...Doctors want to protect a state fund for compensating victims of medical malpractice from budget raids by state officials...

State briefs: Feb. 13
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN - Feb. 13, 2007
...The state is now making sure doctors report all their malpractice claims so they can be posted on the Tennessee Department of Health's Web site for the public to see. ...

Civil justice reforms reintroduced by Dillard in Senate
Madison County Record, Edwardsville, IL - Feb. 12, 2007
...Tort reform proposals in the new general assembly face a daunting challenge. Republicans ceded even more leverage in last November's election by losing seats in the House and Senate...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, February 12, 2007
 
Politics - Dan Walters: Tort war general cashiered
Sacramento Bee, CA - Feb. 12, 2007
...In 1987, with business groups pushing the notion of applying the malpractice caps to all forms of personal injury cases, extensive private negotiations among mercenaries for the warring factions produced what became known as the "napkin deal."...

SB 3 battle ramps up
Fulton County Daily Report, GA - Feb. 12, 2007
...On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Georgia will hear arguments over a section that required medical-malpractice plaintiffs to waive privacy rights to their medical records...

Lawmakers consider increased Medicaid reimbursement rates
News Times, Danbury, CT (Associated Press) - Feb. 11, 2007
...Aside from the low Medicaid reimbursement rate, Connecticut hospitals face high energy costs and medical malpractice insurance rates...

Fixing gap in health care a tough bill to swallow
The Capital, Annapolis, MD - Feb. 11, 2007
...There are other obstacles to quality health care that need reform, he said.A comprehensive health care bill should also consider reducing the state’s high malpractice insurance costs, Mr. Kipke said...

Opinion - Steve Jacob: Grabbing Texans by their lapels
Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, TX - Feb. 11, 2007
...The name implies a treatise on the health of patients, but the report focuses largely on the business side of healthcare: inadequate physician reimbursement by government programs, the administrative burden of managed care, malpractice liability and promotion of consumer-directed health plans...

Emergency care hurt by staffing crisis
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FL - Feb. 11, 2007
...With Florida being one of the most litigious states in the country, doctors are faced with a double-whammy when malpractice insurance costs almost as much as the policy offers...

Recruiting pediatrician is a tough task for Bennington hospital
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus, VT - Feb. 11, 2007
...The low rate of both government and private insurers and costly malpractice insurance are two obstacles to recruiting pediatricians to Vermont. Sen. Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, a member of the Senate health and welfare committee said expensive malpractice insurance in the state added to the high cost of doing business for doctors in Vermont...

Cancer patients speak up
Bennington Banner, VT - Feb. 10, 2007
..."The results are clear that, when patients and doctors can communicate, malpractice is lower and health care costs are reduced."...

Court rules consumer act includes physicians
Wichita Eagle, KS (Associated Press) - Feb. 10, 2007
..."This is going to be damaging to the medical profession. I think it will have the potential for increasing malpractice insurance," Day said...

State Supreme Court will hear medical malpractice case
The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS (Associated Press) - Feb. 9, 2007
The Mississippi Supreme Court has agreed to determine whether faculty physicians at the University of Mississippi Medical Center are protected from lawsuits involving their private patients...

Doctors can work without malpractice insurance
First Coast News, Jacksonville, FL - Feb. 9, 2007
...Cronin says doctors choosing not to carry adequate malpractice insurance is a growing trend in the state of Florida...

Med-mal cap survives constitutional challenge in SC
LegalNewsLine.com, DC - Feb. 9, 2007
...The limit on Louisiana's medical malpractice lawsuit payouts is still $500,000 following a recent state Supreme Court decision...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, February 09, 2007
 
ER tort reform bill OK'd by House committee
Daily Herald, UT - Feb. 9, 2007
...House Bill 338, despite stiff resistance from patients and lawyers who deal with malpractice issues, passed a House committee in a 6-2 vote on Thursday...

Opinion - Richard A. Anderson: ...but ignores unfinished medical liability reform
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA - Feb. 9, 2007
...I would be remiss if I did not express my sincere disappointment that there is no mention of meaningful medical liability reform included in ''Prescription for Pennsylvania.''...

Editorial: Threatening health of hospitals
Berkshire Eagle, MA - Feb. 9, 2007
...Trial lawyers who seize on cases as their next big payday and the insurance companies have sent malpractice coverage costs soaring. Physicians should be part of the solution...

Docs' 'sorry' wouldn't be admission of guilt
Ohmaha World Herald, NE - Feb. 8, 2007
...Twenty-nine states have adopted laws barring apologies as admissions of liability in court. But Welsh said some "I'm sorry" laws allow admission of fault as evidence...

Analysis: Bill aims to fix ailing ERs
United Press International - Feb. 8, 2007
...Because litigation is often a greater likelihood in an inherently risky environment, medical liability insurance premiums prove costly for physicians who may be otherwise willing to forego private practice...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, February 08, 2007
 
Bush renews call for tort reform
Chicago Tribune, IL - Feb. 8, 2007
...President Bush again is taking jabs at medical malpractice lawyers and calling for nationwide tort reform...

Twelve reform steps for Texas
National Center for Policy Analysis, Dallas, TX - Feb. 8, 2007
...These reforms are reducing the number of lawsuits filed and the cost of liability insurance premiums, giving Texas an advantage over some other states. More needs to be done...

Med-mal changes help doctors
Mohave Daily News, Bullhead City, AZ (Associated Press) - Feb. 7, 2007
Physicians' insurance premiums are down and more doctors are coming to Nevada since voters limited damages in medical malpractice cases, lawmakers were told Wednesday. But trial lawyers said many malpractice victims have been unable to go to court since the law's passage...

Malpractice insurer coming online in NY
Business First of Buffalo, NY - Feb. 7, 2007
...Medical malpractice insurance policies written by the Woodworth will be on a "paid claims form" under which liability for the indemnity shifts to the insurers when the claim is paid rather than at the time of occurrence...

Justices OK malpractice cap
2theadvocate.com, LA - Feb. 7, 2007
...Louisiana’s $500,000 medical malpractice cap is constitutional for now, with the state Supreme Court sending two cases that challenged the cap back to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles...


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, February 07, 2007
 
Could "I'm sorry" end malpractice?"
CBS News, NY - Feb. 7, 2007
..."It's not greed that drives most people to file medical malpractice lawsuits," Wojcieszak said. "It's anger. They get -- people get angry when they think there's a cover-up."...

Senators to consider protecting doctors who say 'sorry'
Beatrice Daily Sun, NE (Associated Press) - Feb. 7, 2007
...Twenty-nine states have such laws in place. Proponents say apology laws bring down the number of malpractice claims filed in states that have them...

Hospitals report medical mistakes
The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA - Feb. 7, 2007
...The new Washington law was part of legislation last year that tackled medical liability reform. Since the law took effect June 7, records show that hospitals across Washington recorded not only medical errors but also attacks on patients by staff members...

Editorial: Kent County doctors start malpractice group
The News Journal, Wilmington, DE - Feb. 7, 2007
...It could be the beginning of a new and efficient way of controlling ever-increasing malpractice costs, costs so great they have forced many medical specialists to leave Delaware...

Del. regulator backs health pool; cites new risk retention group
Insurance Journal, CA - Feb. 7, 2007
...He also reported that a group of Kent County doctors has decided to form a risk retention group to provide malpractice coverage...

Medical malpractice risk retention group launched in N.Y.
Insurance Journal, CA - Feb. 7, 2007
...J. M. Woodworth Risk Retention Group has registered with the New York Insurance Department to offer medical malpractice insurance to physicians and surgeons in the state...

Opinion - Patrick Perez: With lawsuits, the possibilities are endless
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Feb. 6, 2007
...There has been much debate about things like capping malpractice awards and different plans to ensure that everyone has health insurance...

Opinion - James Sherk, Nina Owcharenko: How Bush's health care tax plan will raise wages
The Heritage Foundation, DC - Feb. 6, 2007
...In states where rising medical malpractice costs drove up the costs of health insurance, workers paid for the higher premiums almost dollar-for-dollar with lower wages...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, February 06, 2007
 
Ariz. lawmakers move to raise burden of proof on ER suits
Insurance Journal, CA (Associated Press) - Feb. 6, 2007
...the Arizona Senate on Monday narrowly approved a medical malpractice bill to raise the bar on the legal burden of proof required for malpractice lawsuits involving emergency medical care...

Editorial: Hospital support
The Daily Journal, Kankakee, IL - Feb. 6, 2007
...In Illinois particularly, the state government has not always acted in the best interests of health care. It took a near collapse to generate support for curbing medical malpractice costs...

Editorial: Fine-tune initiative process, but keep this valuable right
Yakima Herald Republic, WA - Feb. 6, 2007
...A good example was in November 2005, when dueling initiatives dealing with medical malpractice reform were successfully pushed onto the ballot by state trial lawyers and the medical profession. Both were defeated...

Editorial: The health care solution
Williamsport Sun-Gazette, PA - Feb. 6, 2007
...there needs to be objective conversation from the legal community, the health care industry and the insurers to figure out just where tort reform and the medical malpractice insurance issue fit in the health care solution...

Arguments paint muddled picture of medical malpractice
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO - Feb. 5, 2007
...The arguments from various sides -- lawyers, doctors, the insurance industry, business groups, even President George W. Bush himself -- paint a continually muddled picture of an issue that seems as if it will never be settled...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, February 05, 2007
 
2007 Nevada Legislature convenes Monday
Las Vegas Sun, NV (Associated Press) - Feb. 4, 2007
...Also Wednesday, Assembly Judiciary will review the state's prison and parole-probation systems; and Senate Judiciary will discuss medical malpractice issues...

Capturing 'captives'
Hartford Courant, CT - Feb. 4, 2007
...United Technologies Corp., for instance, has a Vermont captive, and Women's Health Connecticut set up a Bermuda captive a few years ago for malpractice insurance to cover its many ob-gyns...

Republicans, Dems play tug-of-war with lawsuit reform
The Norman Transcript, Cleveland, OK - Feb. 4, 2007
...In 2003, a law that is touted as one of the few limited tort reform measures passed in Oklahoma...But about a month ago, the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned the law...

Communities have trouble attracting doctors
The News-Press, Fort Myers, FL - Feb. 4, 2007
...Recent reforms capping the amount lawyers can collect from malpractice rates seem to have slowed down the number of lawsuits filed. That, in turn, seems to be helping ease the cost of malpractice insurance....

Opinion - Steven B. Larchuck: Better plan has already been offered
Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Feb. 4, 2007
...Meanwhile, the burden of malpractice insurance is driving specialists out of the state or into early retirement. If this dilemma is not addressed soon, we can add a crisis of availability to the existing crisis of access...

Opinion - Thomas M. Ryan: Vanishing physician scenario is a myth
The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ - Feb. 4, 2007
...While we are debunking myths about the mythical "disappearing doctor," let us take on a few others. For example, you have probably heard about how "junk lawsuits" are chasing doctors out of rural counties in Arizona. Again, not true...

The doctor is in -- for now
Times Union, Albany, NY - Feb. 3, 2007
...The doctors and lawyers strongly disagree about the reason for rising malpractice rates. The medical community says the justice system is broken: Lawyers file frivolous suits and juries award astounding sums. The lawyers say the doctors can reduce premiums by reducing claims. In other words, do a better job...

Medical malpractice tort reform bills criticized
Daily Herald, Provo, UT - Feb. 3, 2007
...HB 338 and SB 115 would up the standards of evidence required to wage a malpractice suit against an emergency room service provider. They haven't been heard by a committee yet...

Hagel panel details new system for health care
Ohmaha World-Herald, NE - Feb. 2, 2007
...The 15-member commission called for attracting more health care workers, mediating malpractice issues, holding providers responsible for safety and quality...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, February 02, 2007
 
Nevada's judiciary takes on increased caseloads
In Business Las Vegas, NV - Feb. 2, 2007
...It also created a program that schedules day-long status checks on more than 300 medical malpractice lawsuits pending in the system. The program fast-tracks cases for settlement and provides firm dates for cases that cannot be settled...

Committee to debate hospital law
Gwinnett Daily Post, GA - Feb. 2, 2007
...Rather than delay a resolution of that issue, the panel pushed through a cap on jury awards in medical malpractice lawsuits that doctors and hospitals had sought for years...

Editorial: Health care study needed
The Valley Gazette, Shelton, CT - Feb. 2, 2007
...Malpractice lawsuits and unwieldy insurance costs that the medical field has to bear, plus similar components of the health care dilemma, cannot be ignored because without reasonable medical costs there is little likelihood that any government organization can contrive a reasonable and affordable health care reform package...

York crowd skeptical as Rendell lays out plan
York Dispatch, PA - Feb. 1, 2007
...Rendell did mention the effects of medical malpractice suits on rising premium costs, but only when put to the question by an audience member, Perry Cisney, owner of Perry Cisney Custom Builder...

Rendell touts new plan in York
York Daily Record, PA - Feb. 1, 2007
...In response to a question about protecting doctors from the cost of malpractice insurance, Rendell said that an element of the plan designed to cut infections contracted in hospitals should lower the number of malpractice suits and thus the overall malpractice costs in Pennsylvania...

Supreme Court ruling puts new twist on civil justice debate
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, OK (Associated Press) - Feb. 1, 2007
...The debate, Russell said, is about lawmakers' willingness to limit a physician's civil liability when their patients are harmed to control medical malpractice insurance rates that have forced some to retire early and others to take their practices to other states...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, February 01, 2007
 
Physician lobby shifts strategy on medical-liability reform
The Hill, D.C. - Feb. 1, 2007
...Medical-liability reform remains a top legislative priority for groups such as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the myriad societies representing specialist physicians, lobbyists emphasized...

American Physicians Service Group merger approved by Texas regulators
Insurance Journal, CA - Jan. 31, 2007
...APS is a management and financial services firm with subsidiaries and affiliates which provide: medical malpractice insurance services for doctors...

Opinion - James Tayoun, D.O.: Governor's prescription for Pa. misdiagnoses the real problem
The Bulletin, Philadelphia, PA - Jan. 31, 2007
...The governor must lead the legislature to enact medical liability tort reform through placing sensible caps on non-economic jury awards and caps on attorney contingency fees...


Show/Hide Navigation