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Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, July 31, 2007
 
Ballot measures take shape for '08
The Register-Guard, Eugene, OR - July 31, 2007
...If those measures make the ballot, an expensive campaign can be expected; lawyers have spent heavily in recent years to defeat measures aimed at imposing a cap on medical malpractice damages...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, July 30, 2007
 
Lawsuits change medical practices
The Daily Times, Salisbury, MD - July 30, 2007
...According to Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2001, the median medical malpractice awards from jury trials doubled to $431,000 from $253,000 in 1992, which was alarming to many medial professionals and others who perform emergency care resulting in more precautions on the job...

Maine court questions liability panels
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - July 30, 2007
...But MMA Executive Vice President Gordon H. Smith (not related to the plaintiff) said that even one "bad" case is "an indictment of the medical malpractice system and demonstrates why we desperately need the panels."...

Washington Hospital has become one of the largest in region
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - July 29, 2007
...The high cost of medical malpractice insurance has been driving hospitals statewide to eliminate obstetrical services, Ms. Raffaele said...

Opinion - Zuhdi Jasser: Big bureaucracies limit health-care access in U.S.
The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ - July 29, 2007
...The Arizona Republic and others have written about the medical liability insurance crisis plaguing doctors and hospitals. Society wants to be paid for some less than perfect outcomes, and this in turn feeds a billion-dollar habit called "defensive medicine."...

Seeking justice after malpractice reform
WFAA-TV, Dallas/Fort Worth, TX - July 28, 2007
Three years after sweeping medical malpractice lawsuit reforms, Texas has gone from a doctor shortage to a doctor surplus...

Opinion - Kathleen M. Wolf: Don't underestimate defensive medicine
The Coloradoan, Fort Collins, CO - July 28, 2007
Malpractice costs are a contributor to high health-care costs, much greater than the 2 percent reported by Chris Schwab in a July 23 Soapbox...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, July 27, 2007
 
Fires during surgeries prompt action by anesthesiologists
Seattle Times, WA (Associated Press) - July 27, 2007
...Osberger, who lives in Chicago, settled a malpractice lawsuit in 2003 against Weiss Memorial Hospital for $6 million. She's had to wear special masks, had stents inserted into her nasal passages and still has trouble breathing or smiling...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, July 26, 2007
 
UC settles liver transplant suits for $7.5 million
Los Angeles Times, CA - July 26, 2007
The University of California has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle 35 claims filed on behalf of patients who waited in vain for liver transplants at UCI Medical Center and who were unaware that the school's program lacked the staffing to perform the life-saving operations...

Courts can decide if witness is expert
The Vindicator, Youngstown, OH - July 26, 2007
...Trial courts have the ability to decide if a witness can testify as an expert in medical malpractice lawsuits, when the witness's eligibility changes during delays caused by the defense...

The fourth "S"
Philadelphia City Paper, PA - July 25, 2007
...But there are risks. Patients traveling overseas may not be able to sue for malpractice, depending on the host country's legal system...


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, July 25, 2007
 
Jurors reject malpractice claim by football coach
Boston Globe, MA - July 25, 2007
...In 2005, a study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that fewer than 1 in 15 of the more than 750,000 patients who suffer injuries in hospitals each year ever file lawsuits, and only about a quarter of patients who sue ever receive money.

State seeks to block attorneys over fees in malpractice case
Miami Herald, FL (Associated Press) - July 25, 2007
The state asked two separate trial courts Tuesday to prevent lawyers from getting a larger share than the Legislature intended from an $8.5 million jury award that lawmakers approved for a paralyzed medical malpractice victim...

Minor surgery takes a bite out of life
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - July 25, 2007
...And the Grindheims and the Sakkestads said that while medical malpractice is common, suing for such is frowned upon in Norway. "It's sort of an American thing, where everybody sues everyone for everything," said Ms. Grindheim...

Editorial: Don't blame victims for problems with malpractice
Newsday.com, NY - July 24, 2007
...There's no magic bullet to miraculously control the cost of malpractice insurance. So debilitated patients shouldn't be singled out to bear the brunt of reform...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, July 24, 2007
 
N.C. lawmakers approve cap on medical malpractice damage awards
Insurance Journal, CA (Associated Press) - July 24, 2007
...The bill would cap monetary damages in negligence cases involving a health care provider at $1 million, but only for those who agree to go to binding arbitration...

Column - Herb Denenberg: Supplying answers...
The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, PA - July 24, 2007
...Question:Does Pennsylvania follow national standards in applying medical malpractice laws?...

Opinion - Star Parker: Health care needs freer markets, not more Washington meddling
The Ocala Star-Banner, FL - July 24, 2007
...We need to allow a national market in health-care delivery to emerge to replace the crazy quilt of separate state-regulated fiefdoms, and to fix our tort-law system that requires young medical-school graduates to spend tens of thousands of dollars on malpractice insurance in order to start practicing their profession...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, July 23, 2007
 
No change in state/commercial mix for Pa. medical malpractice insurance
Philadelphia Business Journal, PA - July 23, 2007
Deputy Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Randy Rohrbaugh has ruled there is not evidence of sufficient market capacity at the current time to mandate an increase in medical malpractice insurance limits in Pennsylvania...

Docs don't have to be insured
The Cincinnati Post, OH - July 23, 2007
...While malpractice insurance isn't required, Ohio law mandates that physicians who lack the insurance inform patients in writing and obtain a signed consent form prior to treatment in non-emergency cases...

U.S. drops charges against General Re
United Press International - July 23, 2007
...When Reciprocal collapsed under its losses, more than 80,000 lawyers, doctors and hospitals in 30 states lost their malpractice coverage, McClatchy reported...

Retrying cases tough on lawyers, but not without some benefits
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Boston, MA - July 23, 2007
...Particularly in med-mal cases, he said the defense tends not to show its hand prior to trial — a strategy that may not work the second time around...

From 'hellhole' to a standing ovation
Chicago Sun-Times, IL - July 23, 2007
...But to tackle at least the reputation that doctors and businesses could not get a fair shake in Madison County, Callis and her fellow judges have been going out and meeting with the critics, listening and making changes that have dropped the number of class-action suits filed in Madison County from 103 in 2003 to just four so far this year...

Doctors booming in Texas
News 8 Austin, TX - July 22, 2007
...In 2003, voters approved legislation limiting the amount of damages awarded for lawsuits. The new legislation sparked an increase in insurance companies offering malpractice insurance thereby decreasing the premiums, Malone said...

Diagnosis for state's hospitals: not good
The Hudson Reporter, NJ - July 21, 2007
...So while the hospitals seek to get patients out as quickly as possible, doctors - some fearing malpractice lawsuits - often seek to extend a patient's stay...

Editorial: Probe malpractice rates
The Buffalo News, NY - July 20, 2007
...The answer needs to be found, because the threat of massive judgments and the related costs of malpractice insurance are driving doctors out of New York. Everyone may turn out to play a role in this problem, but the lawsuit system is a primary culprit...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, July 20, 2007
 
Doctors won't have to carry more malpractice insurance
Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - July 20, 2007
...The Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced today there still aren't enough medical malpractice insurers in the state to require to doctors to carry at least $750,000 in coverage ...

WA trial lawyers, insurance companies ready to do battle
Oregon Public Broadcasting, OR - July 20, 2007
...Two years ago trial lawyers and insurance companies faced-off over medical malpractice reform. It was the costliest ballot initiative fight in Washington State history...

Friday midday news roundup
KPIX-TV, San Francisco, CA - July 20, 2007
...A state appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that state law deadlines for malpractice lawsuits against doctors apply to cases filed against medical students as well...

NC medical malpractice award limits approved by General Assembly
Star-News, Wilmington, NC (Associated Press) - July 20, 2007
...The bill would cap monetary damages in negligence cases involving a health care provider at $1 million, but only for those who agree to go to binding arbitration...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, July 19, 2007
 
Editorial: Alarm has sounded: Tax reform needed
The State Journal, Charleston, WV - July 19, 2007
...West Virginians can tolerate substantive change. In recent years, state officials recognized that medical liability problems for physicians and our state-run workers' compensation system had become crises...

Responding to errors in emergency care
Emergency Medical Services Magazine, Fort Atkinson, WI - July 19, 2007
...A well-known study tracking the long-term effects of clinical errors found that malpractice lawsuits didn't cluster around a small group of presumably incompetent physicians, but stretched out in a classic bell curve formation, leaving few untouched...


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, July 18, 2007
 
Tort reform drawing business interest
WTOK-TV, Meridian, MS - July 18, 2007
...The comprehensive reform capped damages plaintiffs could receive in civil suits. Punitive damages are based on the defendants' net worth, and non-economic damages, or pain and suffering, is capped at $1 million, except in medical malpractice, which is capped at $500,000...

Editorial: A dose of hope for prison care
Detroit Free Press, MI - July 18, 2007
...Medical care, when done correctly, costs less than the malpractice and incompetence that too often have plagued the system...

Column: Separated at girth? Lensman fumbles story
Boston Herald, MA - July 18, 2007
...7News’ record for embarrassing I.D. gaffes took a hilarious turn yesterday when a station cameraman mistook rival WBZ reporter David Robichaud for Charlie Weis, the ex-Patriots...offensive coordinator, who is suing his doctors in Suffolk Superior Court...

Moses Taylor wins baby battle
The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA - July 17, 2007
...The cost of malpractice insurance for obstetricians has made it tougher to retain and attract doctors, CMC officials said. Mercy’s executives said they handle 10 percent of the county’s births -- not enough revenue to keep up its department...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, July 17, 2007
 
Hospital: Closing unit is 'right' move
The Ledger, Lakeland, FL - July 17, 2007
..."To get somebody here, the packages they're asking for are in the $550,000 to $600,000 range," Davis said, adding that the total includes malpractice costs and overcoming issues about how often the doctors need to take emergency calls...

State's ranking improves, after tort reform
Commercial Dispatch, Columbus, MS - July 16, 2007
...For medical malpractice suits, the new law retained permanently the $500,000 limit the Legislature enacted in 2002 just for lawsuits against doctors and hospitals...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, July 16, 2007
 
Malpractice insurance taking toll on LI docs
Newsday.com, Melville, NY - July 16, 2007
...But consumer advocates and lawyers say malpractice insurance rates reflect physician errors, not a problem with the legal system...

Opinion - Donald Briggs III: Process deters patients hurt by doctors
Portland Press Herald, ME - July 16, 2007
...The facts show Maine doctors are protected, not threatened, by our court system. Maine has the eighth-lowest rate of medical malpractice claims paid among states...

Bill relaxes requirement for volunteer doctor services
Bucks County Courier Times, Levittown, PA - July 15, 2007
...The 100-hour requirement had been tacked onto the Medicare Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act passed that year, which created a fund to ensure victims of medical malpractice would be compensated...

Small businesses paying big prices for health insurance
The Coloradoan, Fort Collins, CO - July 15, 2007
...The other side of the health insurance issue is tort reform and high-dollar malpractice suits that force doctors to perform more tests on patients to cover their bases in case of a lawsuit, May said. "The tort system is a major driver of health-care costs."...

Off the record
Sacramento Bee, CA - July 15, 2007
...Lawsuit fears and privacy concerns have fueled efforts to squelch delivery-room recording, even when capturing any moment -- mundane or momentous -- is as easy as flipping open a cell phone...

W.Va. ranked worst for business
The Charleston Gazette, WVA - July 15, 2007
...Roberts said he does not know if the ranking accounted for some of the business-friendly steps the state has taken to turn around its economic prognosis. Those include the privatization of workers' compensation insurance and instituting reforms for insurance and medical malpractice...

Editorial: Prune bad ideas from state budget
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, WI - July 14, 2007
...One of the most offensive examples is Doyle's plan to syphon $175 million out of the Patients Compensation Fund to use for the state's general expenses. The Patients Compensation Fund is financed by assessments paid by doctors and other health care providers. The money is intended to settle medical malpractice claims...

Editorial: Texas gets cured
Southeast Texas Record, Beaumont, TX - July 14, 2007
...Our state leaders effectively lowered the cost of medical malpractice insurance 20 percent by capping the awards for "non-economic" damages that lawyers could win against doctors. Runaway verdicts became a thing of the past. The medical malpractice lawsuit surge stopped, and a stream of doctors started...

Insurer prospers after tort
Austin Business Journal, TX - July 13, 2007
...Three years later, Austin-based Advocate MD has remained on the cusp of a wave of new medical-malpractice insurance carriers and expanded at a rate rapid enough to warrant a building of its own...

Doctor-owned insurance company offers lower rates
Las Vegas Business Press, NV - July 13, 2007
...There are several methods PPIC uses to ensure the most prudent management of members' premiums, such as arbitration, active risk management, practice management courses and other services. Perhaps the most important, Volker stressed, is active risk management...

Clinicians clash over new Lyme disease guidelines
Forbes, NY - July 13, 2007
...Although there's no rule that physicians must follow the IDSA's ruling, insurance companies often base their coverage on these types of guidelines. State medical boards could also refer to the guidelines when investigating allegations of malpractice....


Medical malpractice news

Friday, July 13, 2007
 
State reviews malpractice insurance
Patriot-New, Harrisburg, PA - July 13, 2007
...Ario will base his decision on whether Pennsylvania has enough medical malpractice insurers to provide the additional coverage. About 70 active medical malpractice insurers, including self-insured groups, operate in the state...

Opinion - Dr. James E. Striker: Doctors want to help reform malpractice law
Times Union, Albany, NY - July 13, 2007
I would like to respond to the July 3 article, "State OKs 14% hike in malpractice insurance."...

Democrats set to join parley of tort lawyers
The New York Sun, NY - July 13, 2007
...Advocates of less litigation said they expect almost all of the candidates attending the meeting to stand with plaintiffs' lawyers in opposing so-called tort reform efforts to cap damage awards in medical malpractice suits...

Poll: Voters not worried about tort reform
LegalNewsline.com, IL - July 12, 2007
The civil justice reforms that pro-business groups are pushing do not register with voters, the organization formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association claimed Thursday while releasing the results of a poll it recently conducted...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, July 12, 2007
 
Opinion - Jeffrey Segal and Michael Sacopulos: Do-it-yourself tort reform
Wall Street Journal, NY - July 12, 2007
...at any given moment in the U.S., approximately 60,000 medical malpractice suits are being tried, many involving multiple physician-defendants. That's roughly 10% of the physician population...

Reducing liability risk not top reason for using EHRs, docs say
Healthcare IT News, ME - July 12, 2007
...Nearly half of physicians surveyed said that more comprehensive records with automatic alerts could help decrease malpractice risk...

Medical Board plans fingerprinting of TX doctors
cbs11tv, Fort Worth, TX - July 11, 2007
...The Board has been swamped with new applications from physicians seeking to practice in Texas where damage limits have been placed on malpractice lawsuits...

Patients with passports
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, MN - July 11, 2007
...International medical centers can charge less, he said, because of dramatically lower costs of labor, malpractice insurance and overhead related to health insurance paperwork...


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, July 11, 2007
 
Pharmacies don't provide health care
West Virginia Record, Charleston, WV - July 11, 2007
...The Justices unanimously agreed in a June 28 opinion that pharmacies cannot enjoy the benefits of a 1986 law that limits judgments in negligence claims against health care providers...

'Doc delay' in Victoria
Victoria Advocate, TX - July 11, 2007
...Citizens Medical Center administrator David Brown admitted that tort reforms that placed limits on malpractice lawsuits has made Texas attractive to doctors, but he disputes that is a major contributing factor to the backlog in medical license certification process...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, July 10, 2007
 
Editorial: Congress out-of-touch about Medicare
Daily and Sunday Review, Towanda, PA - July 10, 2007
...Physicians already are squeezed by flat or falling reimbursement rates and by rising costs related to their business operations, including malpractice insurance...

OHIC Insurance rated with A-
Business First of Columbus, OH - July 10, 2007
...The Columbus-based medical liability carrier was acquired in January by Napa, Calif.-based Doctors Co., which A.M. Best said has provided OHIC with "prudent underwriting discipline and exceptional cash flows."...

Finding Dr. Right for a serious diagnosis
New York Times, NY - July 10, 2007
...Doctors are not good at policing their peers. You’ll want to check with the state medical board to find out if a particular doctor has been disciplined or repeatedly sued for malpractice...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, July 09, 2007
 
Doctors clamoring to come to Texas, creating backlog of applicants
Austin American-Stateman, TX - July 9, 2007
...People in the medical field say the state's limits on malpractice lawsuits have generated a surge of doctors, including specialists, who want to practice in Texas, which is helping bring more doctors to areas of the state that don't have enough...

Lawsuit limits lure doctors to Texas, creating licensing backlog
Times Record News, Wichita Falls, TX (Associated Press) - July 9, 2007
An influx of doctors lured to Texas by new limits on malpractice lawsuits has overwhelmed the state board that screens candidates for medical licenses, creating a backlog that forces many applicants to wait months before they can start seeing patients...

After the $54m dry cleaner lawsuit
BusinessWeek - July 9, 2007
...In states such as Texas, which limited medical malpractice awards in 2003, insurance rates for doctors have dropped and more insurers entered the market, boosting competition. But insurers warn that there is no direct relationship between tort reform and the cost of premiums...

Opinion - John S. O'Shea, MD: The crisis in hospital emergency departments: Overcoming the burden of federal regulation
The Heritage Foundation, DC - July 9, 2007
...Congress can diminish the adverse effects on doctors and other medical professionals by providing relief from medical malpractice lawsuits for those who deliver medical care in hospital emergency departments...

Opinion - Glenn Gilbert: Time for more tort reform?
The Oakland Press, Pontiac, MI - July 9, 2007
...With Democrats now controlling the House, the Chamber Foundation also is concerned about efforts to roll back what it sees as previous positive reforms dealing with product liability and medical malpractice...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, July 06, 2007
 
U.S. insurers decide silence is best policy for 'Sicko'
Beacon Journal, Akron, OH - July 6, 2007
...While the film contends she died because Kaiser refused to authorize tests that would have determined her condition, Kaiser said it was a case of medical malpractice, not denial of treatment. The jury found both doctors involved to be liable, with the hospital responsible for 75 percent of the more than $1.35 million in damages and Kaiser, 25 percent...

Malpractice prescription: A healthy dose of health courts
Colorado Springs Business Journal, CO - July 6, 2007
...The courts would remove juries and use trained health care professionals as consultants, which supporters say would limit frivolous claims and provide quick resolutions to malpractice lawsuits...

Rising insurance rates put city doctors out of business
The New York Sun, NY - July 6, 2007
...With many doctors soul-searching in the days following the largest increase in malpractice insurance rates since 1993, some in the medical community are warning of physician shortages ...

Arizona Chamber marks legislative victories, looks to tighten budget in 2008
The Business Journal of Phoenix, AZ - July 5, 2007
...The chamber will also support adjustments to the state's medical malpractice laws in order to encourage more medical professionals to practice in Arizona...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, July 05, 2007
 
N.Y. names medical malpractice task force after approving 14% hike
Insurance Journal, CA (Associated Press) - July 5, 2007
...Consumer groups questioned the rate increase and said there hasn't been a recent increase in medical malpractice claims...

New York doctors shell out more for malpractice coverage
ABC News, NY - July 5, 2007
...The New York State Insurance Department, which sets malpractice coverage rates for the state, justified the increase by saying that while it would be difficult for doctors to pay, it was a necessary step to avoid "perhaps an irreversible crisis" for insurers in the state...

Opinion - Ed Chrostowski: From the Crow's nest: Ailing health insurance
New Canaan Advertiser, CT - July 5, 2007
...Soaring costs of insurance have been ascribed to the increasing reliance on expensive technology for diagnostic and treatment protocols, or to cautious doctors taking extra measures to avoid the trial lawyers and the malpractice suits...

Malpractice rate hike hits local health care
The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY - July 4, 2007
...The likely result: Higher healthcare costs and fewer doctors to treat patients, especially in high-risk specialties such as obstetrics and neurosurgery where doctors typically pay higher insurance premium because they face frequent lawsuits...

Medical Society opposes malpractice hike
Business First of Buffalo, NY - July 3, 2007
...The hike is lower than what insurance companies had requested. The medical malpractice market in the state is dominated by two companies, Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Co., with about 60 percent of the market, and Physicians Reciprocal Insurers, with about 20 percent market share...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, July 03, 2007
 
NY hikes malpractice insurance rates
Forbes.com, NY (Associated Press) - July 3, 2007
Regulators in New York approved a 14 percent increase in medical malpractice insurance rates and Gov. Eliot Spitzer formed a task force to find ways to rein in the high cost of the coverage...

Opinion - Fatima Ali: Sick & tired of today's health care
Philadelphia Daily News, PA - July 3, 2007
...With ob/gyn malpractice insurance well above $100,000 annually, what doctor can afford to deliver babies?...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, July 02, 2007
 
Editorial: Bill gives doctors head start in state
The Republican & Herald, Pottsville, PA - July 2, 2007
...Although the medical malpractice liability situation in Pennsylvania has improved over the past five years, the state still is regarded by health care professionals to have a hostile legal environment...

Insurer's plan: Cut malpractice suits
The Denver Post, CO - July 2, 2007
...But instead of suing her doctor to recover the costs, Maddox took part in a unique insurance program being used in Colorado by Copic Insurance Co., an entity that provides medical malpractice insurance to more than 80 percent of privately insured physicians in the state...

Lawsuit study is win for doctors
The Indianapolis Star, IN - July 2, 2007
...But pediatricians, at least, rarely lose malpractice cases, says a new study by Indiana University researchers published today...

Pa. physicians fearing boost in malpractice insurance fees
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - July 1, 2007
Pennsylvania's doctors, especially high-risk surgeons and physicians from the east who pay higher medical malpractice rates, worry that a state-mandated change in insurance could result in an overnight 25 percent increase in their premiums...

Opinion - John F. Brinson: Let the private sector fix health-coverage problems
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA - June 30, 2007
...Pass medical malpractice tort law reform. This is a huge opportunity to greatly reduce the cost of health care...


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