Med Mal Blog from Robinson Group Strategic Communications, LLC

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Editorial: Kansas City Star: Tort reform is no cure-all
Merced Sun-Star, Merced, CA - Sep 30, 2009
...As an olive branch to conservatives reluctant to embrace health care reform, a change in the way we handle medical malpractice isn't a bad idea. But any lessening of a patient's right to seek justice in court must be offset by better oversight and procedures to reduce medical errors in the first place.

Opinion - N. Michael Helvacian: Is tort reform the answer?
San Francisco Examiner, CA - Sep 29, 2009
...Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean says it’s “too tough” to take on tort reform at the same time as health care due to the powerful lawyers lobby...

posted by Editor at 7:09 AM

Opinion - John F. Brinson: This prescription, not federal government will cure health care
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA - Sep 29, 2009
...Reform medical malpractice laws to provide generous awards for medical expenses and lost earnings, current and future, and to cap or eliminate noneconomic damages. This one reform could save as much as $300 billion annually...

Opinion - Tom Sears: Malpractice tort reforms needed now
The Daily Star, Oneonta, NY - Sep 29, 2009
...First, nothing gets off the ground unless Congress and Obama make a serious attempt at medical malpractice tort reform. We are talking about billions of dollars saved annually and it's very easy to implement...

Opinion - Philip K. Howard: Why medical malpractice reform is off limits
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Sep 29, 2009
...Almost all the other groups with a stake in health reform—including patient safety experts, physicians, the AARP, the Chamber of Commerce, schools of public health—support pilot projects such as special health courts that would move beyond today's hyper-adversarial malpractice lawsuit system to a court that would quickly and reliably distinguish between good and bad care...

posted by Editor at 7:50 AM

Challenges to medical liability caps go before Georgia, Maryland high courts
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Sep 28, 2009
...Because of the constitutional and public policy issues at play, the two cases went to their respective high courts. Physicians in both states are pledging to defend the caps, which they credit with easing liability insurance costs and keeping doctors in practice...

Cases to test time limits on lawsuits
The Austin American-Statesman, Austin, TX - Sep 28, 2009
...But doctors and hospitals say time limits for lawsuits — intended by the Legislature to lower malpractice insurance rates and attract more doctors to Texas — provide a public benefit that outweighs the rights of individual plaintiffs...

Trial lawyers lobby is $6.2 m in debt
Washington Times, DC - Sep 28, 2009
...The trial lawyers lobby has been awash in debt and bleeding members - just as it embarks on a national campaign to block any clampdown on medical malpractice lawsuits as part of President Obama's health care overhaul...

Editorial: State budget plan shows the pain even without all details
The Mercury, Pottstown, PA - Sep 28, 2009
...— Tap more than $800 million in reserves previously meant to help doctors and hospitals pay their medical malpractice insurance premiums....

Editorial: Decision was correct in state medical merit case
The Olympian, Olympia, WA - Sep 28, 2009
...The justices were right to keep the barrier between the legislative and judicial branches of government. They were equally correct to strike down the barrier to malpractice lawsuits.

State: Criticism before Pa. budget deal, criticism after
The Sentinel, Carlisle, PA (Associated Press) - Sep 27, 2009
...The Pennsylvania Medical Society accused the state of taking surplus money in a medical malpractice fund that resulted from excess premiums paid by physicians, hospitals, nurse midwives, podiatrists and nursing homes...

Opinion - Wayne J. Riley, M.D.: Proposal in Senate is a good start
The Tennessean, Nashville, TN - Sep 27, 2009
...The bill also makes an attempt to address medical liability reform as it will allow states to explore the establishment of special "health courts" where judges with experience handling these complex cases will work hand in hand with medical experts to arrive at fair yet less costly remedies outside of the courtroom...

Editorial: Tort reform is no cure-all, but every bit helps
Kansas City Star, MO - Sep 27, 2009
...Still, if there is a way to eliminate the waste associated with defensive medicine while still encouraging accountability and protecting patients’ rights, we should be looking for it...

Opinion - Craig Mason: Fixing medical malpractice
The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA - Sep 26, 2009
...I believe it is time for strict liability in medicine – time for a medical scheme that resembles L&I. There should be compensation, without worrying about “fault” determinations, for all people injured as medical consumers...

posted by Editor at 6:50 AM

Plan to tap malpractice funds has providers upset
The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Sep 25, 2009
...The budget agreement would use about $800 million that had originally been set aside to help pay medical malpractice judgments against doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and nurse midwives...

Opinion - Richard C. Dreyfuss: State's steep pension liability will be felt by Pennsylvania's next generation
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA - Sep 25, 2009
...Add to this the $1.7 billion unfunded liability of the state's medical malpractice insurance fund, otherwise known as MCARE, plus other forms of debt at the state and local level and a cumulative picture of unaffordable and unsustainable deferred costs clearly emerges...

Opinion - Richard R. Kelley: Let's be reasonable
The Denver Post, CO - Sep 25, 2009
...Medical malpractice lawsuits add a tremendous cost to the nation's health care bill. But thanks to generous campaign contributions by trial lawyers, Congress and state legislatures have repeatedly failed to pass meaningful limits on medical malpractice awards...

Opinion - Darren McKinney: Tort-reform distractions
Chicago Tribune, IL - Sep 25, 2009
...With four of every 10 costly medical malpractice lawsuits filed each year in America being deemed "groundless" according to a 2006 Harvard study, grass-roots demands for the inclusion of common-sense tort reform in health-care legislation now pending in Congress are gaining momentum...

Opinion - Cory Franklin: Malpractice reform is unworkable and unwise
Washington Post, DC - Sep 24, 2009
...Tort reform does address one undeniable consequence of malpractice: the high cost of malpractice insurance. In plaintiff-friendly venues, specialists paying exorbitant insurance rates may move elsewhere, leaving an area without specialists...

posted by Editor at 7:36 AM

Opinion - Donna Brazile: Democrats can go it alone on health care
The Mercury, Pottstown, PA - Sep 24, 2009
...During his recent address to Congress and the American people, President Obama made some concessions to the GOP, especially on medical malpractice and tort reform. But on exactly what issues are the Republicans willing to compromise?...

Opinion - Charles Douthat: Altering malpractice law won't save money, ending malpractice will
The New Haven Register, CT - Sep 24, 2009
...Studies have shown that malpractice reform doesn’t produce health care cost savings. What is needed are real, evidence-based incentives to make the medical system function more efficiently...

Opinion - Brad O'Leary: Small business owners sound off on health care reform
American Thinker, El Cerrito, CA - Sep 24, 2009
...Eighty-four percent of small business owners support permitting Americans to shop for health insurance from providers located outside their home state, and eighty-one percent agree that tort reform is needed to rein-in the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance...

posted by Editor at 8:06 AM

Baucus tweaks health bill
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Sep 23, 2009
...But Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the panel, charged that the White House and the Democratic leadership had rushed the bill, effectively ending the deliberations of the bipartisan "Gang of Six." He added that "there are a lot of things I can support in this package," praising the bill's "fiscally responsible" approach of fully offsetting its costs. But he said it imposed new taxes, failed to prevent taxpayer funding of abortions, and left medical-malpractice reform unresolved...

Opinion: David Leonhardt: A system breeding more waste
New York Times, NY - Sep 23, 2009
...A grand compromise along these lines may be unlikely. But it’s a lot more consistent with the evidence than narrower ideas. The goal, remember, isn’t just to reduce malpractice lawsuits. It’s also to reduce malpractice.

Editorial: Obama's malpractice on medical lawsuits
Washington Examiner, DC - Sep 23, 2009
...As Barbour puts it, medical malpractice reform is the "lowest-hanging fruit" in the debate over spiraling medical costs. Such reform cannot solve all of the complex problems in our health care system, but it will reduce the drag that high health care costs are having on our economy...

Trial lawyers fight back on malpractice
The Boston Globe, MA - Sep 22, 2009
...The American Association for Justice announced today it is launching what it called the first phase of a nationwide ad campaign "to educate lawmakers about the epidemic of preventable medical errors and how tort law changes won’t lower costs or cover the uninsured."...

posted by Editor at 7:02 AM

Senators to start work on revised health care bill
WISH-TV, Indianapolis, IN (Associated Press) - Sep 22, 2009
...Committee Republicans, for their part, have readied amendments to strike core portions of the bill and replace them with GOP priorities such as caps on medical malpractice payouts...

Malpractice reform resonates, despite low impact
The Baxter Bulletin, Mountain Home, AR - Sep 22, 2009
...Republican lawmakers have long touted federal tort reform as way to bring down health care costs. Democrats are coming around to the same position in response to what they've heard from constituents...

Opinion - Matt Blunt: How Missouri cut junk lawsuits
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Sep 22, 2009
...Tort reform works. Missouri's medical malpractice claims are now at a 30-year low. Average payouts are about $50,000 below the 2005 average. Malpractice insurers are also turning a profit for the fifth year in a row—allowing other insurers to compete for business in Missouri...

Opinion - Patricia Greenstreet: Debunking a myth: an epidemic of medical malpractice, not of malpractice lawsuits
Seattle Times, WA - Sep 21, 2009
...As a registered nurse and lawyer, I know that the so-called malpractice "reforms" offered by the insurance industry will not only increase the costs for injured families; they will result in breaking many families financially...

Opinion - David Freddoso: Here's your 'demonstration project,' Mr. President -- it's called Mississippi
Washington Examiner, DC - Sep 21, 2009
...Since passing tort reform in 2004, Mississippi has seen the number of medical malpractice claims plummet by 91 percent from its peak. The state's largest medical liability insurer dropped its premiums by 42 percent, and has offered an additional 20 percent rebate each year since tort reform went into effect...

Opinion - Randolph W. Pate: Pro & Con: Should liability damage caps be a part of health care reform?
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA - Sep 21, 2009
...Available evidence suggests the reforms are working. The Georgia Medical Association reports that doctors’ medical liability insurance costs have gone down 18 percent since reforms were enacted, offering much-needed relief from skyrocketing premiums...

posted by Editor at 7:45 AM

Obama boosts health reform in media blitz
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - Sep 21, 2009
...However, many physician leaders have complained that the administration's $25 million grant program falls far short of the aggressive changes they seek, including a cap on legal awards to injured patients...

Doctors, nurses, seniors target reform myths
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Sep 21, 2009
...Medical liability reform is another area in which the Finance bill does not go as far as the House -- or the AMA -- would like to go. "We haven't seen in the Senate Finance so far an understanding that defensive medicine costs need to be reduced because they don't contribute to patient care," Dr. Nielsen said...

Opinion - Ralph R. Reiland: Surgeons cut deep into Obamacare
The Mercury, Pottstown, PA - Sep 21, 2009
...With some $2.38 trillion spent last year in the U.S. on health care, that's $238 billion that the health sector is paying for lawsuits or ringing up in defensive procedures to protect itself from litigation. All that is off the table in Obama's calculations on how to save money...

In Brief: Antitrust bill would cut health insurer exemption
Business Insurance, New York, NY - Sep 21, 2009
...The Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009, which also would apply to medical malpractice insurers, would subject insurers “to the same fair competition laws that apply to nearly every other company doing business in the United States,” according to a statement by the senator's office...

DeGette targets insurance companies
The Denver Daily News, CO - Sep 21, 2009
Congresswoman Diana DeGette has introduced legislation that would repeal an antitrust exemption for health and medical malpractice insurance companies. Arguing that eliminating the exemption is necessary to combat skyrocketing premiums...

Malpractice liability cap popular issue in efforts to reform health care
Lansing State Journal, Lansing, MI - Sep 21, 2009
...But lower malpractice insurance rates would have a "very modest" impact on doctors' fees and would reduce total health care spending by less than 0.2 percent, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office...

Midstate lawmakers criticize spending, tax increases in state budget deal
The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Sep 20, 2009
...The plan also counts on $2.1 billion from one-time revenue sources, including the $755 million in the state’s Rainy Day Fund and a surplus in an account established to help doctors with medical malpractice premiums...

Toughest test coming up for health care overhaul
Chambersburg Public Opinion, PA (Associated Press) - Sep 20, 2009
...Baucus says his bill already does both. Republicans are also going to push for a bolder approach on limiting medical malpractice lawsuits...

Editorial: Unfettered access to the courts
The Seattle Times, WA - Sep 20, 2009
THE state Supreme Court was right to throw out a three-year-old law requiring patients to get certificates of merit from an expert before they could sue for medical malpractice...

posted by Editor at 6:58 AM

Health care reform will test demand for doctors
Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Sep 18, 2009
...Although there has been some relief on the malpractice front, trial lawyers remain a formidable lobby and much more reform is needed, according to Olmstead. Meanwhile, he noted that insurance reimbursements vary by market area in Pennsylvania...

Obama to speed up tort reform tests, but doctors want more
Washington Post, DC - Sep 18, 2009
One day after physicians suffered a pair of setbacks in a health-care bill unveiled by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), President Obama moved Thursday to ease the pain by accelerating a $25 million program aimed at softening the pinch of medical malpractice lawsuits...

HHS to award safety, liability grants up to $3 million
Modern Healthcare - Sep 17, 2009
...The American Medical Association called the news "a welcome step" toward liability reform...

How Republicans would overhaul the health care system
Centre Daily Times, State College, PA - Sep 17, 2009
...States would get grants to set up alternatives to malpractice lawsuits in the Coburn-Burr-Ryan bill. The alternatives could be review panels or health care tribunals composed of medical experts and lawyers, who'd determine liability...

Washington justices make it easier to file med-mal suits
LegalNewsline, Chicago, IL - Sep 17, 2009
...The Washington Supreme Court today overturned a state law that requires an allegedly injured patient to get a certificate of merit before filing a medical malpractice lawsuit...

State Supreme Court makes malpractice suits easier
The Olympian, Olympia, WA (Associated Press) - Sep 18, 2009
...The high court ruled that the law violates the separation of state powers, saying that allowing the Legislature to set rules about filing a lawsuit “conflicts with the judiciary’s inherent power to set court procedures.”...

Malpractice insurers show profits for fifth year
Missourinet, Jefferson City, MO - Sep 17, 2009
...Insurance companies that provide medical malpractice coverage in Missouri are showing a profit due to fewer claims. The Department of Insurance says this is the fifth consecutive year malpractice insurance companies have returned a profit and shown positive earnings...

posted by Editor at 7:26 AM

Senate's 10-year health fix would cost $856B
Silver City Sun-News, Silver City, NM (Associated Press) - Sep 17, 2009
...The legislation makes no changes in medical malpractice laws. It does incorporate Obama's call for federal funds for state experiments on alternatives to malpractice lawsuits...

Editorial: American public to Obama: Get serious on tort reform
San Francisco Examiner, CA - Sep 17, 2009
...In Texas and Mississippi, tort reforms recently cut down on “jackpot” lawsuits and reversed a trend of doctors and insurers leaving the state, without preventing truly wronged patients from being fairly compensated...

Editorial: Limits of reform
Daily Press, Newport News, VA - Sep 17, 2009
...Yes, torts should be part of a reform package. But it should be played out at the state level, and with the knowledge that much of the reform has already taken place ...

Opinion - Michael Smerconish: Some health care critics angry at wrong president
LaCrosse Tribune, La Crosse, WI - Sep 17, 2009
...Instead, lower malpractice premiums by providing limited liability protection for the hospitals and doctors treating patients without insurance coverage. That, he said, would save money for premiums as well as reduce some of the costs associated with defensive medicine...

Opinion - Jane Meggitt: Locals discuss views on health care reforms
Allentown Examiner, PA - Sep 17, 2009
Health care reform is one of the hotbutton topics in the nation right now, arousing strong opinions from all sides of the issue. The Examiner asked local residents their views on health care reform, and how best to address it...

Opinion - Peter J. Flowers: Medical errors
Chicago Tribune, IL - Sep 17, 2009
...America needs health-care reform. Implementing cost-saving measures should be at the forefront of the debate; however, calls for limitations on medical malpractice claims are nothing more than a transparent attempt by the insurance industry to increase profits and pay for its shareholders and executives...

Opinion - Dr. Andy Harris: Cost, patient choice are top health concerns
The Daily Times, Salisbury, MD - Sep 17, 2009
...Obstetricians and neurosurgeons in some states pay malpractice insurance premiums in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is passed on to the patient and insurers -- and limits access to those physicians. Try to find an obstetrician in a small, personal practice anymore...

Opinion - Ken Connor: Tort reform is a red herring, not a real solution
Tallahassee Democrat, FL - Sep 17, 2009
Tort reform subsidizes wrongdoing. It is an affirmative action program for corporate miscreants and will do nothing to cut medical costs...

Court says insurer can't void malpractice policy
Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT - Sep 16, 2009
...The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled an insurance company cannot invalidate the medical malpractice policy of the obstetrician who made a failed attempt to deliver the boy with forceps. Under that decision, The Doctors' Company (TDC), an insurance company based in Napa, Calif., remains responsible for an almost $1.3 million jury verdict in favor of Athan Montgomery...

The truth about malpractice lawsuits
BusinessWeek - Sep 16, 2009
...Study after study shows that costs associated with malpractice lawsuits make up 1% to 2% of the nation's $2.5 trillion annual health-care bill and that tort reform would barely make a dent in the total...

posted by Editor at 8:10 AM

Baucus unveiling health bill without GOP on board
Seattle Times, WA (Associated Press) - Sep 16, 2009
..."It looks like we're being pushed aside by the Democratic leadership so the Senate can move forward on a bill that, up to this point, does not meet the shared goals for affordable, accessible health coverage that we set forth when this process began," Grassley said in a statement. He cited Republican concerns over cost, taxpayer funding for abortion services, medical malpractice lawsuits and subsidies for illegal immigrants in any health care bill...

Montgomery court ruling threatens health care, according to brief
The Gazette, Gathersburg, MD - Sep 16, 2009
...For decades, Maryland has limited how much plaintiffs could receive in malpractice cases. After the session, the caps were limited only to cases that had gone to arbitration first, the judge ruled....

Opinion - Getahn Ward: Bart Gordon tort reform amendment gets a closer look
The Tennessean, Nashville, TN - Sep 16, 2009
...Novel ideas include a board of medical professionals charged with certifying validity of any litigation before it can move forward; and early-offer programs designed to encourage doctors to admit errors and offer restitution to patients rather than fighting it out in court...

Georgia high court considers tort reform law
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA - Sep 15, 2009
...The 75-year-old Marietta woman’s case is now before the Georgia Supreme Court, which on Tuesday considered for the first time the constitutionality of the centerpiece of the state’s sweeping 2005 tort reform law — caps on jury awards in medical malpractice cases...

Opinion - Pamela Case: The pros and cons of medical malpractice reform
Town Crier, Tracy, CA - Sep 15, 2009
...President Obama was his usual noncommittal self. “I don’t believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but I have talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs,” he said...

Obama reiterates support for tort reform
West Virginia Record, Charleston, WV - Sep 15, 2009
...Obama has directed U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to restart a program to use mediation to resolve medical malpractice lawsuits...

posted by Editor at 7:53 AM

GA court to consider malpractice limits
WMGT-DT, Macon, GA - Sep 15, 2009
Georgia's top court is set to decide the fate of a 2005 law that limits pain and suffering damages awarded in medical malpractice cases...

Bipartisan Baucus plan may leave Democrats cold
Bradenton Herald, Bradenton, FL (Associated Press) - Sep 15, 2009
...The negotiators pared the cost of their 10-year coverage plan to under $880 billion, and also reported progress Monday on several issues, including health insurance for the poor, restrictions on federal funding for abortions, a verification system to prevent illegal immigrants from getting benefits, and ways to encourage alternatives to malpractice lawsuits...

Partisan battles take center stage in health debate
NBC Philadelphia, PA - Sep 15, 2009
...The Senate Gang of Six received legislative language Monday from staff on providing federal funding to the states to experiment with medical malpractice reform programs...

Malpractice plan low on support
The Washington Times, DC - Sep 15, 2009
When President Obama reached across the aisle in his health care speech to Congress last week by directing the Department of Health and Human Services to authorize state experiments to reform malpractice law, he managed to disappoint both Republicans, who saw it as an empty gesture, and trial lawyers, who felt betrayed by a Democratic ally...

Editorial: Obama's malpractice lip service
The Washington Times, DC - Sep 15, 2009
An exceedingly brief discussion of "malpractice reform" was the only noteworthy bone President Obama threw to Republicans in his health care speech Wednesday night. It wasn't a serious offer of reform...

Malpractice provisions in health legislation would hit big contributors to Congress
The New York Times, NY - Sep 14, 2009
...Time will tell, of course. But so far in the 2010 election cycle, lawyers and law firms have given incumbent members of Congress more money than any other industry has given ...

Editorial: Malpractice suits aren't driving the high cost of health care
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO - Sep 14, 2009
Plenty of reasons exist to support medical malpractice reform. Doing it to slow the dizzying growth in health care spending isn’t among them...

posted by Editor at 6:40 AM

Rendell budget meeting with lawmakers ends inconclusively
The Delaware County Daily Times, Primos, PA - Sep 14, 2009
...The tentative budget agreement would draw $2.1 billion from one-time sources such as the state's "rainy day" contingency fund and an account that helps doctors pay malpractice premiums...

Editorial: Obama smart to put tort reform on table
The Jackson Sun, Jackson, TN - Sep 14, 2009
...When it comes to reforming health care in America, there should be no sacred cows that would not be subject to review and reform. It makes sense for Obama to put malpractice reform on the table for review. This has been a long-standing thorn in the side of conservatives, and they are right to demand it be reviewed and changed if their case can be made.

Med mal remarks draw tepid response
Business Insurance, New York, NY - Sep 14, 2009
Comments made by President Obama last week touching on medical malpractice reform yielded a lukewarm response from tort reform advocates and the plaintiffs bar...

Obama pledges to 'own' health-care bill
Wall Street Journal, NY - Sep 13, 2009
...Signaling that he is only willing to compromise so much on the issue, Mr. Obama on Sunday said he didn't support caps on payments. "So far the evidence I've seen is that caps will not" reduce costs, he said...

On "60 Minutes," Obama predicts health care will succeed
The Washington Post, DC - Sep 13, 2009
...He said he remained open to any ideas that could lead to a compromise - but only if they led to cost savings. In fact, he said he was not convinced that putting caps on malpractice lawsuit judgments, an idea popular with Republicans, would meet that test...

Opinion - Dan Margolies: Would tort reform make a difference?
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Sep 13, 2009
...Few causes in the health-care debate draw more support than tort reform - the idea of reining in frivolous lawsuits that lead to unjust cash awards, soaring malpractice premiums, and "defensive medicine," the unnecessary tests ordered by doctors to avoid being sued...

Opinion - Philip K. Howard: The menu of malpractice reforms
The Atlantic, New York, NY - Sep 13, 2009
...A range of malpractice reform proposals will probably be considered over the next few weeks, and it's probably useful to catalog them, and identify the advantages of each. All of these reforms have significant merit, but special health courts are by far the most important in reducing defensive medicine...

Editorial: Malpractice reform can help build a better health system
The Boston Globe, MA - Sep 13, 2009
...The medical malpractice system is not the eight-cylinder driver of health costs that its most full-throated critics claim it to be, but it is dysfunctional....

Editorial: An unhelpful opposition
The Milford Daily News, Milford, MA - Sep 13, 2009
...Efforts to reform the fee-for-service system for physicians have been reduced to pilot programs. Malpractice reform is getting the same pilot program treatment...

Health care reform: President Barack Obama's overture on medical malpractice litigation sparks movement in Congress
Chicago Tribune, IL (Associated Press) - Sep 12, 2009
...The possibility that malpractice changes could be part of health care legislation that suddenly seems to have better chances of passing has sent doctors and trial lawyers scrambling...

Editorial: Without tort reform, there should be no health overhaul
The Tribune Democrat, Johnstown, PA - Sep 11, 2009
...No one has been talking about litigation reform – an issue that is central to improving the cost of health care and access to treatment...

posted by Editor at 7:04 AM

On tort reform, Obama pitches state-level experiments but offers few details
Washington Post, DC - Sep 11, 2009
...it was one of the few times that Republican lawmakers stood to applaud. But the ideas the president embraced stopped considerably short of the federal limits on awards in malpractice lawsuits that the GOP and the nation's physicians have sought for years...

Health negotiators look at malpractice changes
Ledger-Enquirer, Columbus, GA (Associated Press) - Sep 11, 2009
...The possibility that malpractice changes could be part of health care legislation that suddenly seems to have better chances of passing has sent doctors and trial lawyers scrambling...

States could offer template for revising malpractice law
Wall Street Journal, NY - Sep 11, 2009
Programs under way in several states could provide a template for President Barack Obama's pledge to address medical-malpractice abuses....

White House vows quick action on medical malpractice reform pledge
Fox News - Sep 10, 2009
...Sebelius hopes to announce within a month the location and scope of demonstration projects to curb frivolous lawsuits and, possibly, reduce the use of so-called defensive medicine to avoid them, an administration official told FOX News...

Health care issues: Medical malpractice lawsuits
The Modesto Bee, CA (Associated Press) - Sep 10, 2009
...Some in the GOP see "tort reform" as a magic bullet for runaway costs and have been pushing it for years. The proposal never goes far with most Democrats, who call it a red herring. This contest of ideas has as much to do with special interest groups as with the two parties...

posted by Editor at 7:00 AM

Obama says he will weigh medical malpractice reform
Los Angeles Times, CA - Sep 10, 2009
...President Obama on Wednesday night called for a new look at how medical malpractice lawsuits were handled as a possible way of containing spiraling healthcare costs...

Major points of President Obama's speech
Los Angeles Times, CA - Sep 10, 2009
...Medical malpractice reform is not a "silver bullet," but practicing "defensive medicine" can lead to unnecessary costs; demonstration projects will be reviewed to see what changes to medical malpractice insurance would work best...

Obama on health reform: Stop the bickering
Statesman Journal, Salem, OR (Associated Press) - Sep 10, 2009
...In a gesture to Republicans, Obama said his administration would authorize a series of test programs in some states to check the impact of medical-malpractice changes on health-insurance costs...

Opinion - Lex Taylor: Medical tort reform is key
Northside Sun, Jackson, MS - Sep 10, 2009
...Tort reform will lower health care costs, reduce waste, enhance the quality of care, encourage new doctors to address patient access, and increase choice and competition. Health care reform without tort reform is no reform at all...

Obama addresses complaints about medical malpractice suits
Chicago Tribune, IL - Sep 9, 2009
...During his address to Congress, Obama said that fears of lawsuits had driven doctors to practice expensive "defensive medicine,'' which some believe has led to unneccessary medical tests and procedures and to higher health costs. He suggested, albeit generally, support for measures that would ease the burden on the nation's physicians...

Obama to look at medical malpractice changes
Seattle Times, WA (Associated Press) - Sep 9, 2009
...In his appeal to Congress for health care reform, President Barack Obama isn't ignoring calls for changes in medical malpractice laws...

54% of state doctors support national health insurance, survey finds
Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI - Sep 9, 2009
...The survey also found general agreement among doctors on what needs to be changed in the health care system, such as the cost of medical malpractice insurance, administrative costs, unhealthy lifestyles, the cost of health care services, insurance reform and the supply of primary care physicians...

Opinion - Shakuntla L. Bhaya: State Medical Society wrong on the issue of tort reform
The News Journal, Wilmington, DE - Sep 9, 2009
...Tort reform is nothing more than a red herring. Ensuring patient safety, not limiting their legal rights, should be the focus of debate...

posted by Editor at 7:06 AM

Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce calls Dems' health care reform bad business
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA - Sep 9, 2009
..The Democrats' plan would mean job-killing mandates for employers and add to the federal government's rising deficit, said Tom Huntzinger, chairman of the chamber's Health Care Legislative Committee. It also fails to address malpractice reform and would probably put private insurers out of business, he said...

Bucking trend, Grand View to unveil postpartum unit
Philadelphia Business Journal, PA - Sep 9, 2009
...Sixteen hospitals in the region have stopped delivering babies since 1997, blaming the combination of escalating malpractice insurance costs and inadequate reimbursement from public and private insurers...

State says medical malpractice cases down in Missouri
KWMU-FM, St. Louis, MO - Sep 9, 2009
...Malpractice claims have dropped since then-Gov. Matt Blunt and the Republican-led Legislature enacted a 2005 law restricting injury lawsuits. The report shows Missouri's malpractice insurers made a profit for the fifth straight year in 2008...

Editorial: Tort reform: Turning back the clock?
The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS - Sep 9, 2009
...The Supreme Court should reconsider the Price ruling. Tort reforms were too hard to come by to fritter them away by judicial fiat...

Editorial: Obama won't take on trial lawyers in speech
San Francisco Examiner, CA - Sep 9, 2009
...A major factor in rising health care costs is the ever-present threat to doctors and other health care professionals of being sued by trial lawyers looking for big contingency settlements and the fat fees that come with them. As a result, medical malpractice insurance premiums have zoomed into the stratosphere...

Editorial: Big government and health care
The Denver Post, CO - Sep 9, 2009
...The system is badly in need of reform, but the changes must increase transparency so that we know what we're buying, allow competition across state lines, lower the cost of medical malpractice and eliminate the need for defensive medicine. The last thing we need is another intrusion by big government...

Editorial: Add clarity and facts to health care debate
News-Record, Greensboro, NC - Sep 9, 2009
...Bipartisan backing also exists for addressing malpractice cost and coverage, underwriting wellness and preventive care programs and closing the prescription drug doughnut hole for Medicare recipients...

Opinion - Dr. Mark Siegel: 5 pills for Obama to swallow: A medical doctor gives his Rx for health care reform
New York Daily News, NY - Sep 9, 2009
...Of course trial lawyers are against it, but doctors - especially in certain specialties - simply cannot afford rising medical malpractice insurance premiums. The rest of us can't afford the culture of fear that shrouds practice these days...

Opinion - Richard Binko: Patient safety needs attention
Times Union, Albany, NY - Sep 9, 2009
...A strong civil justice system protects patients from malpractice and encourages doctors and other providers to do everything they can to avoid preventable errors...

Trial lawyers spend big money taking to the airwaves
Southeast Texas Record, Beaumont, TX - Sep 8, 2009
...Advertisements seeking potential plaintiffs for medical malpractice lawsuits are flooding the nation's airwaves, a legal watchdog group said Tuesday...

posted by Editor at 9:22 AM

Connecticut's medical community examines multiple challenges in health care
Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT - Sep 8, 2009
...Their wish lists vary, too: Limit malpractice awards. Change the way care is rewarded so that doctors are paid more for spending time with patients instead of just performing procedures...

Health care reform: Remedy, or prescription for failure?
The Daily News, Longview, WA - Sep 8, 2009
...Medical malpractice has driven the cost of health care higher as well. Even medical providers giving free health care can be sued for medical malpractice...

Opinion - Martin Henrichs: Here's checklist for health care reform package
Post-Tribune, Merrillville, IN - Sep 8, 2009
...Tort reform: Doctors pay outrageously high malpractice insurance premiums. Lawyers and insurance companies rake in big money at the expense of the medical profession...

Opinion - Arthur Feldman: Medical reform plan falls short
The Modesto Bee, Modesto, CA - Sep 8, 2009
...Without fixing these spiraling insurance costs and the legal environment that allows large payments in unjust suits, physicians will continue to practice expensive "defensive" medicine or simply leave states that do not enact tort reform...

Editorial: Time to reset health care strategies
Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, CA - Sep 8, 2009
...Put a cap on punitive damages in medical malpractice suits to reduce the prevalence of expensive defensive medicine. Allow individuals as well as employers to deduct the cost of health insurance policies...

Barbour: Tort laws eroded
The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS - Sep 8, 2009
...Barbour's attorneys said this decision "turns back elements of tort reform, particularly the pre-suit notice requirement ... increasing the costs faced by health-care providers and their insurers to defend against medical malpractice actions...

Opinion - Philip K. Howard: Stonewalling legal reform
The Record, Edwardsville, IL - Sep 7, 2009
...Creating a reliable malpractice system with special health courts will not solve all the problems of healthcare, but it will solve some. Reliable law is also a necessary foundation for other changes in the culture of healthcare delivery...

posted by Editor at 7:56 AM

Health care decisions loom as Congress returns this week
Lawrence Journal-World, Lawrence, KS (Associated Press) - Sep 7, 2009
...They believe government should help some middle-class people through subsidies for private coverage, but that a federal insurance plan isn’t needed. Some are willing to include malpractice changes that appeal to conservatives...

Health care reform debate awaits Congress
Pensacola News Journal, FL - Sep 7, 2009
...He and other Republicans, including Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, want the government to provide incentives for small businesses to provide health care to employees. They also favor limiting medical malpractice awards to lower malpractice insurance costs for doctors...

How much is a life worth? Debate rages on medical malpractice caps
Palm Beach Post, FL - Sep 6, 2009
...Still, a recent study by Americans for Insurance Reform, concluded that caps, like the ones enacted in Florida, had nothing to do with the drop in insurance rates for doctors. Instead, it found that such increases are cyclical and tied to how much insurance companies earn from investment income...

Editorial: Fix the costs first
The Buffalo News, NY - Sep 6, 2009
...That drives up the costs of care, as do the costs of malpractice insurance, which are, in part, a function of a justice system that is focused too much on finding deep pockets and too little on assigning appropriate responsibility for bad outcomes...

Opinion - Thomas Ducker and Michael McHale: Health reform: Restore patients' rights -- and responsibilities
Baltimore Sun, MD - Sep 6, 2009
...And, what happens to lawsuits and resulting malpractice insurance premiums when the patient is a willing, educated and active participant in planning the course of treatment? I suspect that both will decrease drastically...

Opinion - Mike Thomas: Medical malpractice needs an overhaul
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Sep 6, 2009
...This is not to say malpractice lawyers are evil. They simply are business people seeking to maximize profits. And they are not alone...

Opinion - Sherman Joyce: How to slash nation's health tab by $200 billion annually
Billings Gazette, Billings, WY - Sep 5, 2009
...If comprehensive health care reforms are to succeed, they must include liability reform. Certainly real victims of negligence must be fairly compensated, but public policy must discourage litigation that abuses our civil justice system and makes health care less accessible and more expensive.

posted by Editor at 10:33 PM

Obama pressed on details of plan
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Sep 4, 2009
...A group of six senators on the committee is scheduled to talk Friday, and he plans to push for a deal that doesn't contain a public-insurance option and changes the medical-malpractice system to help reduce health costs...

Obama to stress common ground in health speech
The Boston Globe, MA - Sep 4, 2009
...Enzi has suggested paying for expanded coverage, in part, by lowering malpractice costs and changing tax rules. Obama has said he prefers raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans to help pay for coverage...

Opinion - Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift: America has a laundry list for the 21st century
Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, PA - Sep 4, 2009
...Limits must be placed on such cases as medical malpractice, individuals should be encouraged to represent themselves, and corporate officers should be allowed to represent their corporations...

posted by Editor at 5:20 AM

Health Care Fact Check: Tort reform
The Denver Post, CO - Sep 3, 2009
Question: What do the current health reform bills under consideration say about health care tort reform?...

Tangible and unseen health-care costs
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Sep 3, 2009
...This is defensive medicine -- a careful, fretful approach to treating patients, in which doctors authorize tests in part to reduce the risk that they will be sued...

Why Chuck Grassley turned on health-care reform
Time, New York, NY - Sep 3, 2009
...Among the demands that Grassley says he has made that reflect his commitment to conservative orthodoxy: no rationing of health care, no government-run public option to compete with private insurance, no requirement that employers provide health coverage and an insistence that malpractice lawsuits be curbed...

State revenue falls behind
Concord Monitor, Concord, NH - Sep 3, 2009
...But the monthly deficit, combined with a pending lawsuit over a medical malpractice fund that could affect another $110 million, renewed calls by Republican leaders in the state House and Senate to further cut state spending. A group of a dozen legislators held a press conference yesterday to ask Lynch to develop a "Plan B." ...

Republicans call for state special session
The Telegraph, Hudson, NH - Sep 3, 2009
...The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Oct. 15 on a lower court ruling that judged as illegal the state budget making use of $110 million in surplus with the Joint Underwriting Association...

Editorial: An honest exchange needed in health debate
West Central Tribune, Willmar, MN - Sep 3, 2009
...It difficult to get inside doctors’ heads and find out how many tests and procedures they do in order to defend themselves from lawsuits, but the costs of malpractice insurance and court cases can be measured. The highest figure studies have come up with is 3 percent...

Opinion - N.O. Biasotto, DO: Congress and trial lawyers thwarting needed tort reform
The News Journal, Wilmington, DE - Sep 3, 2009
...The cost of our medical liability system is borne by everyone as defensive medicine adds billions to the cost of health care in this country...

Opinion - Dr. William A. Peck: Reducing defensive medical practices is healthy
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO - Sep 3, 2009
...Physicians who fear malpractice litigation might avoid patients with difficult medical problems and patients who seem likely to bring lawsuits. But the big problem is unnecessary, occasionally risky care: specialty referrals, laboratory tests, medical imaging with needless exposure to radiation and hospitalizations...

Opinion - John R. Smith: S. Florida businesses reject 'Obamacare'
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FL - Sep 3, 2009
...In addition, the feds have taken malpractice reform off the table to appease trial lawyers, another reason this proposal ultimately will fail. There is no incentive to reduce costs...

posted by Editor at 5:56 AM

Democrats try tougher tone on health plan
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Sep 2, 2009
...Republicans said the Democratic leadership has never really given them a seat at the table or entertained their ideas on health care, which include limiting medical-malpractice suits and allowing small businesses to join insurance-buying pools that would be exempt from state-level regulations...

Could lawsuit curbs pave way for health care deal?
NPR, Washington, DC - Sep 2, 2009
In the Republicans' most recent weekly radio address, Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi offered several of what he called "common sense reforms" aimed at curbing health care costs: more competitive insurance plans, better information for health care shoppers, and that old GOP chestnut — cutting down on frivolous lawsuits...

Democrats, Republicans still at odds over state budget
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - Sep 2, 2009
...The latter category includes the state's $750 million "Rainy Day Fund'' for economic emergencies and a surplus of about $700 million in a fund that helps doctors pay medical malpractice insurance premiums...

House, Senate negotiators meet on budget for first time in weeks
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA - Sep 2, 2009
...It also calls for one-time fixes such as a $350 million transfer from the state's $750 million Rainy Day Fund savings account and a $400 million withdrawal from a fund that provides state-subsidized malpractice insurance to physicians...

Panel agrees to talk more, but when?
Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Sep 2, 2009
...This plan would not raise taxes, but it would: raise revenue through accounting changes for personal income and sales tax collections to add $370 million this year; draw down $350 million in Rainy Day funds; take $400 million from a fund created to help doctors with soaring medical malpractice premiums...

Montco sees huge rise in malpractice cases
The Intelligencer, Doylestown, PA - Sep 2, 2009
..."Our yearly malpractice caseload soared, increasing by more than 300 percent," said Kehs. In contrast, the number of new malpractice cases filed in the plaintiff-friendly Philadelphia courts decreased by about 50 percent...

Doctors address need for health-care reform
Green Bay Press-Gazette, WI - Sep 2, 2009
...the panel focused on five key points members said they agreed on: covering the uninsured, funding for Medicare, enacting tort reform, cutting bureaucracy and maintaining the doctor-patient relationship...

Opinion - Melvin Johnson: 'Right to health care' untrue
The Coloradoan, Fort Collins, CO - Sep 2, 2009
...When I have asked why the charges are so high, the first response I receive is the cost of malpractice insurance. Tort reform is always set aside because of all the lawyers who make the money...

Opinion - H. J. Lewis: Health care: America will get what it voted for
Zanesville Times Recorder, OH - Sep 2, 2009
...We also were required to buy shares of a malpractice insurance fund that went broke from fraudulent actions, producing even greater pain. I still have the worthless certificates...

Opinion - Frank Schell: Time to buy time
The American Spectator, Arlington, VA - Sep 2, 2009
...While malpractice insurance raises the cost of health care to the patient, a knock-on effect is the overprescribing of some tests and procedures, due to an abundance of caution in a litigious culture...

Opinion - Gerald H. Balzar: Consider other ideas for system overhaul
Springfield News-Leader, Springfield, MO - Sep 2, 2009
...2. As for malpractice awards, consider an annuity format consistent with the patient's life style, plus associated medical costs. If convicted, strip the doctor's license for some period of time based on the nature of the conviction...

Opinion - Paul Howard: How to save Obamacare and Kennedy's legacy
San Francisco Examiner, CA - Sep 1, 2009
...Consensus also exists for creating health exchanges that allow consumers to choose from a range of private health insurance choices; enacting tort reform to reduce frivolous medical malpractice litigation; and eliminating fraud, waste and abuse...

posted by Editor at 9:19 AM

Opinion - Peter Morici: How Obama can win on health care
Statesman Journal, Salem, OR - Sep 1, 2009
...Truly empower nonprofits to lower costs. Require pharmaceutical companies to charge them no more for drugs than paid in Canada, and let nonprofits enroll anyone who agrees to waive malpractice suits...

Reform group takes aim at Calif. trial lawyers
Legal Newsline, Chicago, IL - Sep 1, 2009
..."They are asking our courts to destroy California's model medical liability law, which makes sure medical negligence victims are compensated for their injuries - but limits lawyer-enriching runaway noneconomic damage awards that threaten to close community clinics," Sullivan said...

Opinion - Sherman Joyce: Tort reform could slash nation's health tab
Bradenton Herald, Bradenton, FL - Sep 1, 2009
Though common-sense Americans have repeatedly raised the issue of tort reform while discussing health-care legislation with members of Congress during town hall meetings this month, too many lawmakers and analysts still stubbornly insist that medical liability lawsuits do not contribute significantly to rising health-care costs. These lawmakers and analysts are wrong...

Opinion - Darryl Fagin: Health reform bill is complicated enough without adding low-yield factor
Bradenton Herald, Bradenton, FL - Sep 1, 2009
...“Tort reform” would add one more controversial and peripheral issue to the mix. More important is to keep the focus on equity and affordability, in the face of armies of lobbyists for insurance and pharmaceutical companies who are seeking to shape the final bill to suit their interests, rather than the public interest...

Interview - Tom Baker: Would tort reform lower costs?
New York Times, NY - Aug 31, 2009
Medical tort reform is moving to the fore of the health care debate. On Sunday in The New York Times, former Senator Bill Bradley, Democrat of New Jersey, argued that one way to gain support of both Democrats and Republicans might be to combine universal coverage with tort reform...

Texas Supreme Court cites limits to med-mal law
Southeast Texas Record, Beaumont, TX - Aug 31, 2009
...In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court found that the Lone Star State's medical malpractice reform statute -- known as the Medical Liability and Insurance Improvement Act -- was meant to affect malpractice, not just any accident that occurred at a medical facility...

posted by Editor at 7:47 AM