Recent News
The Drawn Out Process of the Medical Lawsuit
She was one of the most highly sought radiologists in her hospital, a doctor with the uncanny ability to divine the source of maladies from the shadows of black and white X-ray films. But one afternoon my colleague revealed that she had been named in a lawsuit,...
Branstad keeps his address quiet, serious
It was a mostly silent Legislature that took in Gov. Terry Branstad’s annual Condition of the State address Tuesday. Applause lines in the roughly 30-minute speech were rare, and lawmakers mostly ignored the cues to clap. That doesn’t necessarily mean legislators were...
Medical malpractice bills pass Senate, head to House for lame duck vote
LANSING, MI — Senators passed changes to the state’s medical malpractice laws after removing controversial parts of the bill package. The “Patients First Reform Package” now heads to the House for consideration during the last remaining weeks of the current...
Coalition Floats Compromise, AAJ Gears Up To Fight Caps
Medical malpractice reform is returning to the spotlight as lawmakers embark on deficit-reduction discussions, with a broad-based health care coalition suggesting possible middle ground while trial lawyers gear up to fight against tort reforms that would cap damages...
Malpractice Screening Panels Upheld in New Hampshire
In 2007, New Hampshire established an expert-panel system for use in medical malpractice lawsuits to cut back on frivolous suits and speed up resolution of cases. This system was recently challenged as unconstitutional, but the New Hampshire Supreme Court has just...
Republicans press HHS on malpractice reform
Three Republican Senators concerned about how grants for medical liability reform demonstration projects were spent continue to press the Department of Health and Human Services for answers – only to receive less than adequate responses. Senators Charles Grassley and...
Liability premium relief good for doctors, unsettling for insurers
Small but persistent declines in medical liability insurance premiums have many insurers concerned about the future of their industry. Yet doctors are benefiting from lower rates and rising competition among insurers vying for their business. Nearly 60% of premiums...
Kansas Supreme Court upholds medical malpractice cap
The war on medical malpractice caps rages on. Although several state Supreme Courts have recently struck down malpractice laws aiming to limit awards for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, the Kansas Supreme Court has just ruled that the law is...
Third parties can’t sue doctors when injured by patients, says state high court
Physician advocates are praising a Connecticut Supreme Court ruling they say protects doctors from being sued unfairly by third parties who are injured by patients. In a Sept. 17 decision, judges said physicians owe no duty to nonpatients who are harmed because of a...
Ga. group offers way to curb health care costs
A Gallup survey this summer found that 26 percent of all health care spending in Georgia is on unnecessary tests. The state’s doctors ring up $15 billion annually in avoidable costs, mostly in efforts to create evidence in case they are sued. Just in the...