Recent News
Defense Costs of Medical Malpractice Claims
To the Editor: Despite research on the overall costs of the U.S. medical liability system,1 national data are limited on the costs associated with resolving medical malpractice claims2 — defense costs — and how they vary according to physician specialty. The frequency...
Making the case for federal tort reform
Paul Taylor, Chief Counsel to the Subcommittee on the Constitution for the House Judiciary Committee, lays out a comprehensive argument for federal tort reform in The Federalist Papers, the Commerce Clause, and Federal Tort Reform published in the Suffolk...
Romney: Why I’d repeal ObamaCare
Friday is the second anniversary of ObamaCare. It is past time to abolish the program, root and branch. The Supreme Court will soon have a crack at this; arguments about the program's constitutionality open before it next week. But whatever the justices decide in what...
President should back up his rhetoric with real reform
In his State of the Union address, President Obama urged Congress to set aside politics and work with the White House on passing legislation. But the president neglected to mention that Republicans in Congress have been doing just that. Unfortunately, our efforts to...
It’s fiscally irresponsible not to address liability reform
The economics are irrefutable, and the human evidence is sobering. The present medical liability situation in this country is adding to the already high cost of American medical care, driving physicians away from certain geographies and practice specialties -- and...
Defensive medicine seeping into physician training, study says
Practicing defensive medicine to avoid medical liability lawsuits may not be a formal part of medical school curriculum, but it's still being taught to medical students and residents, a study shows. A survey of 202 fourth-year medical students and third-year residents...
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 appellate court...
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...