Recent Massachusetts News
October 2023 Newsletter
Liability reform elevated to presidential debate state Earlier this month, one presidential candidate offered up a tried and true way to improve access to patient care while lowering costs for Americans — through medical liability reform. A Wall Street Journal...
Insurers Pause to Take Pulse of Medical AI
Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies may help reduce medical errors and improve patient outcomes, but their use in health care raises liability concerns and questions around medical malpractice risks. Insurers are not yet restricting...
October 2017 Newsletter
Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling could lead to medical lawsuit abuse Patients and physicians in Oklahoma could face a deteriorating liability climate in the coming years, as the state Supreme Court recently ruled against an effective liability reform. This setback to...
Current Medical Liability Laws
| Damage Caps | $500,000 cap on noneconomic damages, with exceptions for proof of substantial disfigurement or permanent loss or impairment of a bodily function, or other special circumstances which warrant a finding that imposition of such limitation would deprive the plaintiff of just compensation for the injuries sustained. |
| Joint Liability Reform | No. Each defendant is jointly and severally liable. |
| Collateral Source Reform | Collateral Source Rule applies in tort cases. See Law v. Griffith, 930 N.E.2d 126 (Mass. 2010). But in cases of medical malpractice benefits from collateral sources must be disclosed and used to reduce recoverable economic damages, minus any amount paid by the claimant to secure the benefit. |
| Attorney Fees Limited | Yes. Fees are limited to 40% of the first $150,000; 33 1/3% of the next $150,000 and 30% of the next $200,000; and 25% of amounts exceeding $500,000. An attorney may not take an amount that would leave the claimant with less than the amount of unpaid past and future medical expenses, with exceptions. |
| Periodic Payments Permitted | No |