Recent News
Malpractice Insurance Premiums Nudge Down Again
For the seventh straight year, malpractice insurance premiums have decreased for three bellwether specialties, and even for sticker-shocked obstetrician-gynecologists on Long Island in New York, according to an annual premium survey released this week by Medical...
Doctors order unnecessary tests without even realizing it
Physicians order unnecessary tests and procedures to inoculate themselves from legal liability more than they realize, according to a new survey of physicians at several hospitals in one Massachusetts health system. Nearly a third of the orders that the surveyed...
Poorly Crafted State Proposition 46 Puts Doctors on Defense
The lawyers who put together and funded Proposition 46 might have been too clever for their own good. The main motivation for the measure is inescapably clear: to raise the ceiling on “noneconomic damages” in medical malpractice lawsuits — in plain language, “pain and...
Proposition 46 is No Cure-All
Physicians should not get drunk or stoned, especially before operating on patients. They ought to make sure their patients need prescriptions for ailments, not to feed addictions. And policymakers should consider updating the 1975 law that capped damages in medical...
Vote No on Proposition 46
Supporters of Proposition 46 on the Nov. 4 ballot must think the California voter is really stupid. Proposition 46 is a measure put on the ballot by trial lawyers who want to raise the limit on noneconomic damages in malpractice cases. But the proponents must have...
Numbers are down, but Phila. is still a haven for medical malpractice suits
After all the hand-wringing and anguish over out-of- state firms flocking to file lawsuits in Philadelphia - the law firms you see advertising on late-night television - is Philadelphia still the notorious plaintiffs' paradise of common lore? It all depends on your...
Malpractice Caps in Flux in Florida
Less than 4 months after the Florida Supreme Court struck down the state’s wrongful death non-economic damages cap, the fate of the state’s personal injury medical malpractice award limit may also be in jeopardy. The state’s highest court heard oral arguments in June...
A Case for Malpractice Reform
The medical malpractice process was designed to allow fair and just compensation when a patient is harmed through negligent health care; it is an important part of our health care system. Ideally, it would function smoothly, bringing prompt justice to those who have...
Med-mal caps in the crosshairs as trial lawyers attack California’s landmark act
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A landmark act constraining the amount of money plaintiffs attorneys and their clients can reap from medical malpractice lawsuits has come under fire by California trial lawyers – an expensive battle that may end up spreading to...
Doctors Spend More Time in the Courtroom Than the Classroom
Medical malpractice suits are time consuming and emotionally draining. The average physician spends more time—about 11 percent of his or her career—embroiled in malpractice litigation than it takes to complete medical school. Most claims consume two years prior to...