Recent Kansas News
April 2023 Newsletter
Patient protection: Good Samaritan legislation introduced in Congress The Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act of 2023 was re-introduced in the House of Representatives this month, to close the gap in available medical coverage during federally declared disasters...
Malpractice Risks for Docs Who Oversee NPs or PAs
Court cases show that physicians continually underestimate their liability in supervising nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). Even in states that have abolished requirements that NPs be physician-supervised, physicians may still be liable...
June 2022 Newsletter
Defensive medicine brings inflation to health care costs As inflation touches on every aspect of consumer prices, health care costs have been continually increasing due to the practice of defensive medicine — and could go up even higher from here. An opinion piece in...
Current Medical Liability Laws
| Damage Caps | In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court in Hilburn v. Enerpipe Ltd., 309 Kan. 1127, 1144, 442 P.3d 509 (2019) ruled that a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages was unconstitutional. |
| Joint Liability Reform | Yes. Defendants are responsible only for their proportionate share of negligence. Kansas Statutes § 60- 258a (2010). |
| Collateral Source Reform | Modified collateral source. “When a finder of fact is determining the reasonable value of medical services, the collateral source rule bars admission of evidence stating that the expenses were paid by a collateral source. However, the rule does not address, much less bar, the admission of evidence indicating that something less than the charged amount has satisfied, or will satisfy, the amount billed.” Martinez v. Milburn, 233 P.3d 205, 222 (Kan. 2010). |
| Attorney Fees Limited | No |
| Periodic Payments Permitted | Not mandated |