Recent News
Medical malpractice cases in Lackawanna County in 2012 drop by 53 percent
Lackawanna County's medical malpractice case filings in 2012 fell 53.8 percent from the average filed in the early 2000s, an ongoing trend sparked by reforms initiated by the state Supreme Court more than a decade ago. Statewide and in most of Northeast Pennsylvania,...
Tort reform challenge threatens medical liability premiums
An appellate court examines the New Mexico law’s constitutionality and its $600,000 damages cap, but physicians are fighting back, fearing changes will drive up costs. New Mexico’s tort reform, which has been on the books since the mid-1970s, is facing legal...
Health reform medical liability shield a model of good sense
Georgia now protects its physicians from a possible liability loophole in the ACA. The rest of the nation must do the same. The Affordable Care Act will bring new insurance coverage to tens of millions of people, put a needed focus on preventive care, and start...
Scott signs FMA-priority medical liability reform bill
Gov. Rick Scott has signed the Florida Medical Association’s priority medical liability reform legislation, transforming the state’s medical practice environment by requiring fairness in the use of expert witnesses. SB 1792, sponsored by Sen. Tom Lee and Rep. Matt...
Doctors’ apologies can’t be used against them in malpractice suits, justices rule
An apology or other sympathetic statements health-care officials make to their patients can’t be used as evidence of liability in medical-malpractice cases. Lawmakers enacted this years ago. The Supreme Court of Ohio clarified yesterday that this information can’t be...
NY Physicians Demand Liability Cost Reduction, Protest Medicare Cuts , at Annual Meeting
At a time when New York physicians face a combustible mix of significant Medicare sequestration cuts, the requirement to implement costly mandatory electronic medical record and ICD-10 reporting systems, and deal with new federal health care reforms, New York State...
Doctors win first safe harbor against ACA use in liability suits
Physician leaders hope a first-of-its-kind bill approved in Georgia protecting doctors from civil liability for breaching federal health system reform requirements will be replicated in other states. Medical associations long have been concerned that federal...
To Fix U.S. Budget, Reform Medical Malpractice Law
The sequestration that is about to take effect imposes too much austerity too soon, does so in a nonsensical way, and yet does little to improve the long-term U.S. fiscal picture. Far more beneficial would be to make sure that the deceleration in health costs we have...
Governor signs alternative to medical malpractice lawsuits
Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a bill today offering patients, doctors and hospitals an alternative to medical-malpractice lawsuits. Senate Bill 483 would allow them to enter into voluntary discussions and mediations, including settlement offers, under the authority of...
The Experts: How to Fix Health Care
What single change could be made to the current health-care reimbursement system to help bring down costs? Recent Journal Report articles on the future of Accountable Care Organizations and the expansion of Medicaid have touched on the issue of cost reduction.The Wall...