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

Thursday, July 31, 2008
 
Some doctors raise fees, cut patients
The Jackson Sun, TN - Jul 31, 2008
...Other factors include the rising cost of malpractice insurance and the expense of hiring assistants and office managers who must push paperwork...

MetroHealth financial picture much better second quarter
The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH - Jul 31, 2008
...and also found out it could reduce malpractice reserves by $2.8 million because of fewer claims and successful outcomes from cases...

New documentary exposes horrors of botched plastic surgery
New York Daily News, NY - Jul 31, 2008
...In New York state, thousands of complaints are filed every year with medical malpractice lawyers, and a shocking proportion relate to cosmetic procedures...

Hospital obstetrics ward will close amid malpractice crisis
The New York Sun, NY - Jul 31, 2008
...Malpractice insurance costs for the obstetrics department, $8.8 million each year, represent 40% of the hospital's overall malpractice insurance costs, about $22 million each year...

Community Hospital in Brooklyn is closing its maternity ward
New York Times, NY - Jul 31, 2008
...said that delivering babies was the biggest money loser at the hospital, as at many hospitals, because of low reimbursement rates and high premiums for malpractice insurance. “Our decision to take this step is not a happy one,” he said...

Opinion - Kolmi Majunbar: Passing the buck on birthing
The Santa Barbara Independent, CA - Jul 30, 2008
...Supporting parents in making well informed decisions for themselves may be a better protection against malpractice than making blanket decisions for all parents behind closed doors. In any case, it is the right thing to do...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
 
GOP tries to woo docs back to fold
Politico.com, DC - Jul 29, 2008
...the Republican vote-counter and others asked the American Medical Association and other physicians groups to help the GOP oppose legislation the House approved last week disabling a budgetary requirement under Medicare. The impromptu vote also postponed consideration of medical liability reform, a top priority for doctors. But most of the medical associations balked...

Opinion - Eric Turkewitz: Want to cure high malpractice rates? Target bad doctors
The Journal News, White Plains, NY - Jul 29, 2008
...repeated a common myth in an argument for tort "reform," claiming that one of the primary reasons for increased medical malpractice insurance was "unusually high judgments." DeRussy couldn't be more wrong...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, July 28, 2008
 
Rural Maryland faces shortage of doctors
Baltimore Sun, MD (Associated Press) - Jul 28, 2008
...recommends various legislative remedies, including higher physician reimbursement rates by insurers, medical malpractice reforms and a loan-forgiveness program ...

Business books: Consumer service isn't just a place to complain
Miami Herald, FL - Jul 28, 2008
...observed that doctors who spend more time and were friendlier with patients were sued less frequently for malpractice than doctors who behaved in a more authoritarian and curt manner...

Uninsured doctors on the rise in South Florida
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FL - Jul 27, 2008
...South Florida has become the nation's capital for doctors without medical malpractice insurance, experts say, leaving patients at risk of getting little financial help for care after a medical error...

South Florida malpractice victims have fewer options
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FL - Jul 27, 2008
Growing ranks of uninsured doctors — plus new laws and court decisions — are discouraging attorneys from taking medical malpractice cases, leaving some South Florida victims of medical errors with few options...

Opinion - Stephen M. Karp, Esq.: Different medical malpractice view
The Daily Local News, West Chester, PA - Jul 26, 2008
...During those same 20 years, I have practiced law in Chester County, and I too have witnessed a "medical malpractice crisis."...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, July 25, 2008
 
Democrats avoid battle over entitlement spending
The Associated Press - Jul 24, 2008
...Bush proposed having wealthier beneficiaries pay higher monthly premiums for the program's prescription drug benefit as well as limiting punitive damages awarded in medical malpractice cases...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, July 24, 2008
 
Doctor held liable for a 'loss of chance'
The Boston Globe, MA (Associated Press) - Jul 24, 2008
The state's highest court ruled yesterday that doctors can be held liable for negligence that reduces a patient's chance of survival, even if the patient's prospect for recovery was already less than 50 percent...

Mass. high court: Doctors liable for patient's lessened chance of survival
Insurance Journal, CA - Jul 24, 2008
...According to the decision, "recognizing loss of chance in the limited domain of medical negligence advances the fundamental goals and principles of our tort law."...

Growing number of primary-care doctors adopt concierge medicine
The Arizona Republic, AZ - Jul 24, 2008
...Other factors include the rising cost of malpractice insurance and the expense of hiring assistants and office managers who must push paperwork...


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, July 23, 2008
 
Editorial: New law means greater access to doctors' histories
Daily Camera, Boulder, CO - Jul 23, 2008
...During a lawsuit following the young man's death, his mother discovered a malpractice claim against the doctor -- a claim she says would have made her decide on another surgeon. She also learned that he had only performed the procedure just once before...

Insurance company for Dr. Desai denies liability
KLAS-TV, Las Vegas, NV - Jul 22, 2008
...Malpractice awards by state law are capped against doctors at $350,000 for each case. This lawsuit against the insurance company removes that cap because it is not for malpractice but failing to police the doctor's practices...

Tennessee targets frivolous malpractice suits
Renal and Urology News, NY - Jul 22, 2008
...Patients who want to sue a doctor in Tennessee will first have to get a medical expert to certify that their charges have merit under a new state law....

Georgia judges rules damage caps unconstitutional
Renal and Urology News, NY - Jul 22, 2008
...Many states, including Georgia, have compensation caps only for medical malpractice. The distinction goes against the principle of equal protection, the judge writes...

ProMutual cuts malpractice insurance rates for Pennsylvania doctors 6%
Insurance Journal, CA - Jul 22, 2008
Malpractice insurer ProMutual Group recently announced a rate reduction for individual physicians and surgeons in the state of Pennsylvania. All individual professional liability policyholders will receive a 6 percent decrease in their base rate...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, July 21, 2008
 
Editorial: Health council nearly a victim of wrangling
The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Jul 21, 2008
...The governor shouldn't have forced the shutdown and Senate Republicans were wrong in linking reauthorization to a battle with Rendell over malpractice insurance payments to doctors...

Opinion - Kevin R. Marciano, Esq.: Let's move past malpractice myth
Daily Local News, West Chester, PA - Jul 21, 2008
...People have spent a great deal of energy perpetuating a myth that there is a medical malpractice insurance crisis in our state. That is just not true...

Massachusetts doctors challenge liability insurance analysis
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Jul 20, 2008
...A recent study tracking declining medical liability insurance premiums in Massachusetts fails to tell the whole story, physicians say...

Malpractice fees forcing obstetricians out
The Journal News, White Plains, NY - Jul 20, 2008
High malpractice costs may squeeze out more doctors who deliver babies in the Lower Hudson Valley this year...

Monet? Gauguin? Using art to make better doctors
The Boston Globe, MA - Jul 20, 2008
...Students in the course run by Katz and Brigham neurologist Dr. Shahram Khoshbin were evaluated immediately after they took the course, not as practicing doctors, when they will face the threat of malpractice lawsuits for wrong diagnosis...

Opinion - R. David Henderson: Still a win for patients
The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC - Jul 20, 2008
The News & Observer was quick to note in a July 18 editorial that the N.C. Medical Board's vote to post all medical malpractice payments greater than $25,000 was a retreat from the board's initial proposal to publish all payments...

Opinion - Hank Arends: Admit mistakes and give back to others
The Statesman Journal, Salem, OR - Jul 19, 2008
..."In the places where this practice has been adopted it has been a resounding success — patients have felt they were treated respectfully and fairly, those lawsuits have dramatically declined, malpractice premiums have gone down, and doctor's consciences are clearer."...

Attorney Joesph Balesteri: Avoid doctors and hospitals in July, weekends and holidays
Lawyers and Settlements - Jul 18, 2008
Joseph Balesteri says medical errors are more likely to occur on weekends, holidays, and in the month of July when new doctors, fresh out of medical school, traditionally begin their residency programs...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, July 18, 2008
 
PA physicians will pay more for malpractice insurance this year
WPSU-TV, State College, PA - Jul 18, 2008
Pennsylvania's physicians and some other health care providers are required by law to pay into the state's catastrophic malpractice insurance fund -- and this year, they'll pay more, because the legislature left for the summer without reauthorizing an insurance subsidy...

Insurance Dept. reviewing sale of Pa. med mal insurer
Philadelphia Business Journal, PA - Jul 18, 2008
...PMSLIC Insurance Co. has filed an application with the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance to merge with Millennium. PMSLIC would be the surviving company if the merger is approved, according to the filing...

The Doctors Co. confirms federal investigation is over
San Francisco Business Times, CA - Jul 18, 2008
...The combined company, the largest malpractice insurance carrier in the nation, according to Doctors Co., now provides liability coverage to 43,000 doctors and surgeons, including 19,000 in California, after adding SCPIE's 8,000 physician policyholders...

Editorial: Full disclosure
The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC - Jul 18, 2008
...The board, a state agency that licenses and regulates more than 20,000 doctors and physician assistants, voted Wednesday to set up a Web site that will show most medical malpractice payouts, listed by doctor...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, July 17, 2008
 
Panel limits notice of malpractice payouts
The Charlotte Observer, NC - Jul 17, 2008
...Board attorneys have pointed to the experience of more than 20 states that have published malpractice payout information, and none said the issue caused problems...

Medical board scales back plan to post malpractice settlements online
Triangle Business Journal, Raleigh, NC - Jul 17, 2008
...The North Carolina Medical Board has voted to scale back its plans for posting the details of medical malpractice settlements on its Web site, but the move still might not be enough to avoid a legal squabble over the issue...

Growing industry looks healthy
Erie Times-News, PA - Jul 17, 2008
...Not everything is perfect in the health-care industry. Physician malpractice premiums are high, insurance payments to hospitals are low, and a physician shortage looms...

Maine panel to examine high emergency room use
Bangor Daily News, ME - Jul 17, 2008
...said doctors "on call," who field after-hours calls from ailing patients they don’t know, are likely to advise those patients to come to the emergency room for assessment rather than telling them to wait until morning, partly to avoid malpractice lawsuits...


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
 
Board agrees to post some malpractice details
The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC - Jul 16, 2008
...The board decided it will only post settlements more than $25,000 -- the same amount that insurance companies use to raise a doctor's malpractice premium...

Medical board votes to post malpractice records online
WRAL-TV, Raleigh, NC - Jul 16, 2008
...Wednesday's decision means malpractice judgments over a seven-year period that are greater than $25,000 will be posted to physicians' and physician assistants' profiles...

Opinion - David A. Ridenour: Bizarre tort system turning state into "Almost Hell"
The West Virginia Record, Charleston, WV - Jul 16, 2008
...was ordered to pay $25 million -- most of it in punitive damages -- to a local physician who filed suit when the center failed to give his proposal to purchase self-insurance against medical malpractice charges "express lane" approval. A judge recently reduced the damage award to $10 million...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
 
State Supreme Court decision punches another hole in state budget
River Falls Journal, WI - Jul 15, 2008
...Earlier this year the Wisconsin Medical Society filed a lawsuit against the state to stop a raid of $200 million from the state's patients' compensation fund to the general fund. The fund was created in 1975 and helps lower malpractice insurance costs for doctors in the state by providing excess medical malpractice coverage...

Medical review panel has modest impact
Casper Star-Tribune, WY - Jul 15, 2008
Medical review panels, created to weed out frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits, have had a modest impact on claims filed through the end of 2007, a report says...

Physicians to receive safety alerts by e-mail
Renal and Urology News, NY - Jul 15, 2008
The recently launched Health Care Notification Network (HCNN) will speed FDA safety alerts to physicians by e-mail. Insurance companies expect the system to cut the risk of malpractice litigation...

Initiatives promise earlier warnings of drug risks
Renal and Urology News, NY - Jul 15, 2008
Adverse drug reactions -- or interactions -- can increase your exposure to a malpractice lawsuit. New initiatives are underway to let doctors know about potential dangers more quickly than ever...

Costs, quality of life drive doctors from the baby business
Greenwich Time, Old Greenwich, CT - Jul 15, 2008
...part of a growing trend as doctors in Fairfield County and beyond consider leaving the baby business behind. Many of the doctors cite skyrocketing malpractice premiums, reduced compensation from third-party insurers as well as the taxing demands on the personal lives of doctors ...

Opinion: Six conservative myths about health care
Center for American Progress, Washington, DC - Jul 15, 2008
...Enacting caps on awards threatens individual rights to compensation for harm resulting from preventable medical error, mostly because so-called frivolous lawsuits represent only a small portion of claims and awards by juries...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, July 14, 2008
 
AMA president says N.Y. needs more primary care physicians
The New York Sun, NY - Jul 14, 2008
...There is one issue that New York physicians are facing, which is liability premium increases. That is a serious problem. We've had a medical liability crisis in New York for a long, long time...

Long-term fix is elusive in Medicare payments
The New York Times, NY - Jul 13, 2008
...Many doctors want to eliminate the payment formula. They say their costs - for malpractice insurance, staff salaries and other expenses - are rising faster than Medicare payment rates...

Opinion - Charles Quimby: Med schools: Next abortion battleground
Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN - Jul 13, 2008
...The barriers don't just involve learning medical procedures that are not mentioned in class; there are also issues about malpractice coverage and getting institutional approval...

Unity doctor's arrest stigmatizes patients
Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh, PA - Jul 13, 2008
...said another complication is that there aren't enough doctors in the area. Some left for other states to avoid high premiums for medical malpractice insurance, she said....

Doctor sues newspaper alleging libel, damage to reputation
Lake County News, Lakeport, CA - Jul 12, 2008
...He also posed the question that, if Patrick was indeed misdiagnosed, why did he not sue Keene for malpractice? Even in today's litigious society, libel suits against newspapers aren't common, according to legal experts...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, July 11, 2008
 
Sununu proposes health insurance reforms
Union Leader, Manchester, NH - Jul 11, 20008
...The bill would let businesses pool their resources to buy coverage as a large group and buy coverage across state lines. It would block frivolous malpractice suits, encourage wider use of information technology, widen use of Health Savings Accounts and give health insurance tax credits to individuals and families...

Senator's care plan includes $6k credit
Nashua Telegraph, Hudson, NH - Jul 11, 2008
...for opposing limits on unfounded lawsuits for medical malpractice and for endorsing what Sununu labeled as a "more government'' health care system...

AMA apologizes for past racism
Baltimore Sun, MD - Jul 11, 2008
...Without membership in medical societies, black physicians were denied admitting privileges at hospitals, financial support such as loans to open practices, leases for office space and even medical malpractice insurance...

Orlando physician finds little comfort in AMA's apology for racist past
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Jul 11, 2008
...exclusion from the AMA robbed black doctors of a voice in an organization that has always been influential in health-care legislation. It also denied black doctors access to affordable health and malpractice insurance...

Debt concerns turn medical students away from primary care
Central Penn Business Journal, Harrisburg, PA - Jul 11, 2008
...There are medical-malpractice premiums to pay. Reimbursements from government payers and insurers often are inadequate, forcing doctors to see more patients to make ends meet...

Social networking could haunt doctors
The Palm Beach Post, FL - Jul 10, 2008
...If a doctor gets sued for malpractice, a drunken Facebook photo from a college frat party could be used as evidence of a drinking problem, even if there is none, Thompson said...

Judge reduces jury award to Charleston surgeon
The Herald-Dispatch, Huntington, WV (Associated Press) - Jul 10, 2008
...The jury had determined that CAMC administrators engaged in fraudulent, malicious and oppressive conduct in a dispute over malpractice insurance...

Mass. Court: Gay couples can't claim past benefits
WCVB-TV, Boston, MA (Associated Press) - Jul 10, 2008
...a ruling affirming a bright line between marriage and other long-term relationships. The Supreme Judicial Court issued the ruling as part of a malpractice case...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, July 10, 2008
 
Opinion - Jennifer Bunn, RN: Charity begins at home
GNIF Brain Blogger, CA - July 9, 2008
...Some states have adopted legislation to limit liability of volunteers. The Volunteer Protection Act, passed in 1997, sets a minimum national standard for immunity laws for volunteers. Although it sets limits on awards, it still does not provide full protection...


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, July 09, 2008
 
Hospital bullies take a toll on patient safety
MSNBC - Jul 9, 2008
...Hickson, who researches medical malpractice suits, said arrogant or insensitive behaviors can mean the difference when patients are deciding whether to sue hospitals...

Rendell revives health cost group
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA (Associated Press) - Jul 9, 2008
...The Senate has passed two bills tying a five-year renewal of the council's legal authority to an extension of a malpractice insurance premium subsidy for doctors known as MCare...

Health agency's hiatus is over
The Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Jul 9, 2008
...Rendell has said he would not sign the malpractice bill unless Senate Republicans approved his plan to provide health-insurance coverage to 275,000 low- and moderate-income Pennsylvanians...

Rendell revives agency that assesses health care costs
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - Jul 8, 2008
...While Mr. Rendell and House Democrats also support restoring the MCare abatements, they have linked their endorsement to significant progress in extending health coverage to the state's uninsured. Their proposal to do so, however, has met with a cold reception from Republican leaders...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, July 08, 2008
 
Health research agency's future in doubt
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA (Associated Press) - Jul 8, 2008
...A Senate-passed bill tied the agency's reauthorization to the renewal of a state subsidy for doctors' malpractice insurance known as MCare. Rendell, however, said the doctors' financial help depends on legislative action to provide health coverage for uninsured Pennsylvanians...

New Web service lists physician profiles
The Pueblo Chieftan, CO - Jul 8, 2008
...The law also requires that all applicants for medical licenses, or license renewals, provide detailed information about felony convictions, actions taken by other medical boards and hospitals, malpractice claim information, as well as board certifications and business ownership and employment information...

Fighting for the choice to live or die
The Western Front, Western Washington Univ., Bellingham, WA - Jul 8, 2008
...Under I-1000, doctors prescribing lethal doses would be protected from malpractice lawsuits and not subject to peer or state review. There would be no way for the state to investigate abuses...

Doing your homework
The Washington Post, DC - Jul 8, 2008
...Ask the hospital if the doctor has had any complaints or sanctions, or has committed medical malpractice. Most, if they're working hard to keep business robust, will tell you, he added...

Editorial: Health care ought to be a high priority
Visalia Times-Delta, CA - Jul 8, 2008
...Public policy must make it an immediate incentive to produce more doctors and nurses who are willing to practice general medicine. They need to be assured adequate compensation and protection from the stifling deterrence of malpractice liability...

Hospital group praises budget
Central Penn Business Journal, Harrisburg, PA - Jul 7, 2008
...There is still a lot left on hospitals' wish list. The hospital association will continue pushing for health-insurance reform, medical-malpractice insurance reform and the reauthorization of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, Scanlan said...

Hospital group HAP weighs in on Pa. budget
Philadelphia Business Journal, PA - Jul 7, 2008
...All of the programs or proposals have become snarled in Harrisburg politics. Mcare is the state's mandatory malpractice insurance program for health-care providers. For the past five years, during a time when premiums for doctors in Pennsylvania skyrocketed, the state has used a portion of its cigarette tax to cover the Mcare fees for physicians...


Medical malpractice news

Monday, July 07, 2008
 
Opinion - R. Bruce Joston: Dear 44: Care that works for all
Politico, Arlington, VA - Jul 7, 2008
...Anyone who suffers a medical injury due to a preventable error deserves legal redress, but that’s no excuse for frivolous liability claims that drive up prices and drive out health care providers. There’s a difference between malpractice and not being perfect...

Opinion - Dennis J. Nave, MD: Defensive medicine hurts health care
The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY - Jul 7, 2008
...Also of note is that in 85 percent of cases of malpractice that go to court, the verdict is in favor of the physician. Nonetheless, trial lawyers offer the big "jackpot" to potential plaintiffs while hoping to keep a significant share of "the pain and suffering" for themselves...

Scary tales of misdignoses, medical mistakes
The Birmingham News, AL - Jul 7, 2008
...While office-based surgeries are becoming more popular, the authors suggest avoiding them. If the worst-case scenario does happen, they describe ways malpractice cases can be pursued legally...

Medicare cut could influence patient care
The Southern, Carbondale, IL - Jul 6, 2008
...Such a cut in funding, Sanford said, would have significant impact in Illinois, where a medical malpractice crisis led many good physicians to leave the state...

Editorial: Health care council should be revived
The Citizens Voice, Wilkes-Barre, PA - Jul 6, 2008
...Sunday, the Senate actually passed a reauthorization bill and sent it to the House. That legislation included a provision to reauthorize Mcare, a medical malpractice insurance program administered by the state....

Opinion - Dr. Randall S. Zuckerman: Rural areas suffer from a lack of surgeons
Times Union, Albany, NY - Jul 6, 2008
...Instead, they are pursuing surgical subspecialties with less on-call duty, lower malpractice insurance premiums, higher reimbursements and more flexible lifestyles...


Medical malpractice news

Friday, July 04, 2008
 
Wis. Supreme Court rules against malpractice firm
Chicago Tribune, IL (Associated Press) - Jul 4, 2008
...The doctors and the clinic denied the claims in court but Physicians Insurance never responded, which the company called an oversight...

Editorial: Collateral damage in the budget wars
The Sentinel, Carlisle, PA - Jul 3, 2008
...Republicans are bargaining for the council’s reauthorization with a demand to extend the subsidy paid to doctors to help them with onerous malpractice insurance bills. Democrats have already tied the malpractice provision to the governor’s proposal to expand health coverage to the uninsured...


Medical malpractice news

Thursday, July 03, 2008
 
Editorial: PHC4 gets caught in political crossfire
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA - Jul 3, 2008
...Senate Republicans tied PHC4's reauthorization to extension of the medical malpractice insurance extension for physicians. But Gov. Rendell wanted to tap the surplus in the Mcare Fund, which helps pay for malpractice claims...

Editorial: Health cost council forced out of operation, a reflection of the partisanship seen at Capitol
The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Jul 3, 2008
...Likewise, Senate Republicans need not have tied reauthorization to the unrelated matter of extending malpractice insurance to doctors. That's tied up in another GOP/Rendell dispute over expanding health-insurance coverage...


Medical malpractice news

Wednesday, July 02, 2008
 
Negotiators try to hold Pa. budget deal together
Daily American, Somerset, PA (Associated Press) - Jul 2, 2008
...A partisan dispute broke out in the wake of Monday’s budget agreement after Republicans pushed for passage of a bill to continue a $1 billion, five-year subsidy that helps doctors and other medical professionals pay for supplemental malpractice insurance...

Pa. health care cost council takes political hit
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Jul 2, 2008
...At the last minute, language to extend the malpractice subsidy was inserted into the Senate bill reauthorizing the council, known as PHC4. But the governor has said he would not extend that subsidy, called the MCARE abatement, until the Legislature passes a bill that provides affordable insurance to more of the state's 800,000 uninsured adults...

With authorization in limbo, health cost agency closes
The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Jul 2, 2008
...The state Senate on Sunday passed a bill that would reauthorize the council. But that bill also extended a program called Mcare that helps pay doctors' and hospitals' medical malpractice costs. ...

Health agency, caught in battle, shutting down
Observer-Reporter, Washington, PA (Associated Press) - Jul 2, 2008
...The Republican-controlled state Senate has tied the council's reauthorization to an extension of a malpractice insurance subsidy for doctors. But Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell wants to link the doctors' subsidy extension to his effort to expand health coverage for nearly 300,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians...

Editorial: Releasing data on hospital errors
Los Angeles Times, CA - Jul 2, 2008
...According to this naive line of thinking, the ability to bill patients for egregious errors is the main reason such mistakes are repeated. In fact, the errors simply become a cost of doing business, like malpractice insurance...

Opinion - M. Eugene Sherman: Reforming health care
The Denver Post, CO - Jul 2, 2008
...In addition, physicians across the country continue to struggle with high medical malpractice premiums. Meanwhile, the rising cost of providing care is outstripping society's ability to pay...

Doctors decry malpractice proposal
Charlotte Business Journal, NC - Jul 1, 2008
...They came, they saw, they complained. On Monday, physicians and other medical professionals spoke against a proposal that would post each N.C. doctor's malpractice history on the N.C. Medical Board Web site...

Clearfield Hospital unveils plan for future
gantdaily.com, Clearfield, PA - Jul 1, 2008
...“Recruiting physicians to rural Pennsylvania is a challenge. Many are not interested in living in a small town, while others don’t want to come to Pennsylvania because of malpractice insurance rates...


Medical malpractice news

Tuesday, July 01, 2008
 
Partisan fight leaves Pa. health cost watchdog in limbo
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA (Associated Press) - Jul 1, 2008
...The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council is caught in the middle of a dispute over whether a bill to reauthorize it should also include an extension of a malpractice insurance subsidy for doctors. Without it, the agency's legal authority is expiring...

Gov. Rendell, Pa. lawmakers agree on $28.2 billion budget
The Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Jul 1, 2008
...But Senate Republicans want one aspect of the health-care debate - funding for MCARE, the state's reimbursement program to doctors for medical malpractice insurance - to be addressed before the legislature breaks for the summer. The governor has said he will not address the MCARE issue unless the legislature passes his proposal to cover an additional 143,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians...

State insurance department postpones setting medical malpractice rates
The Business Review, Albany, NY - Jul 1, 2008
...Superintendent of Insurance Eric Dinallo said the delay will provide time for the negotiation of reforms to the malpractice system, which could result in reduced rates...

Malpractice rate increase is postponed
The New York Sun, NY - Jul 1, 2008
...Malpractice insurance rates are set each year by the insurance superintendent, and physician groups were bracing for a single-digit rate increase this year...

Posting malpractice payout records evokes big ouitcry
The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC - Jul 1, 2008
...The board, charged with licensing and disciplining the 22,000 doctors who practice in North Carolina, has proposed posting all malpractice payments going back seven years. The effort is part of a new effort to broaden the kind of information patients can see about the doctors who treat them...


Show/Hide Navigation