Malpractice reform on front burner in 2012

Advocates for Westchester County’s medical practitioners and businesses burdened by health care costs said they’ll make medical malpractice liability a key target of their lobbying and reform efforts in 2012. “Medical liability reform will always be a major priority...

Emergency room sovereign immunity bill filed

Doctors working in emergency rooms would be protected by sovereign immunity from large medical malpractice judgments under a measure filed Thursday in the Senate. The measure, filed by Sen. John Thrasher (R-St. Augustine), notes that emergency room doctors must treat...

Doctors still face harsh medical liability realities

When looking at the medical liability landscape, doctors will see some recent victories fending off tort reform challenges. California’s $250,000 noneconomic damages cap — long considered the gold standard among state tort reforms — was upheld by an...

Medical liability defense costs skyrocket

The average cost of defending a physician against a medical liability claim rose 63% to more than $47,000 from 2001 to 2010, according to a December report from the American Medical Association. That rise came despite the fact that nearly two-thirds of all claims...

January 2012 Newsletter

Medical Liability Strides, and Setbacks An important editorial in this month’s American Medical News details the recent success medical liability reforms have had at the state level, but shows just how much more work must be done to reform a broken system that does...