There is a new case on how one establishes the deadline for filing medical malpractice claims against the military hospitals and other health care providers associated with the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). The case applies to FTCA claims arising in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan.…
More of our coverage of the 2013 Tennessee Health Care Liability Report issue by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance reflecting medical malpractice claims information for the year ending December 31, 2012. As mentioned in Part 1 of this series, the total damages paid to claimants in 2012 was…
Tennessee law has an unusual rule concerning expert witnesses in health care liability cases – the "contiguous state rule." Usually, the rule hurts patients because it limits the pool of expert witnesses available to testify on their behalf. Sometimes, however, it comes back to bit health care providers. An ophthalmologist…
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance has released the 2013 Health Care Liability Report. Unfortunately, the report bears the date on which it is issued rather than the year the data used to generate the report is based. In any event, the data confirms what most of us…
These days, almost all Tennessee nursing homes and rehabilitation centers include arbitration agreements in their admission documents. In this case, enforceability became an issue because the arbitration agreement was signed by the patient’s sister who did not have a power of attorney. Moreover, it was undisputed the patient did not have…
Pre-suit notice in Tennessee health care liability cases continues to be a huge problem for victims of medical malpractice. In this case, Plaintiff sent notice, included all of the necessary forms and paperwork, and attached it to the complaint – but it turned out to be sent to the wrong…
Tennessee medical malpractice (now called "health care liability") cases remained essentially flat for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, according to data recently released by the Administrative Office of the Courts. For the twelve month period ending June 30, 2013, there were a total of 385 health care liability…
The fights over the Tennessee health care liability pre-suit notice statute, T.C.A. Sec. 29-26-121, have steadily increased and now loom over virtually every Tennessee health care liability lawsuit. In short, motions to dismiss cases are being filed because of the alleged failure of the plaintiff’s lawyer to perfectly comply the statute. In many…
No, you did not read the headline wrong. The company that insures doctors for medical malpractice claims in Georgia is opposing a tort reform measure being pushed by a group of healthcare administrators. What is going on? A group of healthcare administrators in Georgia has formed an organization called "Patients…
The National Practitioner Data Bank collects data about medical malpractice settlements of $10,000 and more. Here is some recent information about Tennessee physician judgments and settlements as reported to the Data Bank: There were 155 reported payments in 2011, down from 192 10 years earlier in 2001. 31 of those…