Four professors have written an article titled "Do Poor People Sue Doctors More Frequently? Confronting Unconscious Bias and the Role of Cultural Competency." The article concludes that "Contrary to popular perception, existing studies show poor patients, in fact, tend to sue physicians less often. This may be related to a…
State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company, the Tennessee medical malpractice insurer owned by the doctors themselves, has had another profitable year even with its significant rate decrease. The company, which insures about 75% of the doctors in the state, has announced the following financial results and other data for the year…
Insurance Journal reports that the parents of a child born with cystic fibrosis sued various Montana health care providers, saying that had they known of the genetic disorder they would have terminated the pregnancy. Cystic fibrosis causes sticky mucus buildup in the lungs and other organs, leading to infections, digestive…
One of the defenses commonly asserted in an Erb’s Palsy medical malpractice case is the "natural forces of labor defense." The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York recently ruled that a trial judge did not abuse his discretion by ruling that the defense could not be…
The Arkansas Supreme Court has rejected an effort by the Arkansas Legislature to define who is permitted to give testimony as an expert witness in a medical malpractice case. Broussard’s medical malpractice case was dismissed on summary judgment after her expert witness was excluded under Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-114-206 (Repl.…
This article by an emergency room physician in Texas providers a good summary for the evaluation of chest pain in the emergency room. The article explains that "The decision to discharge a patient who presents with chest pain as the primary complaint should be made only after careful consideration…
This article from www.claimsjournal.com reveals data from the Physician Insurer’s Association of America on the monies spent on defense costs in medical malpractice cases. The PIAA reviewed closed claim data for 2009 and found that the average defense costs for medical malpractice lawsuits was $69,244 for cases that settled and…
Here is a great article by Shirley Svorny of the well-known liberal outfit, the Cato Institute. The article originally appeared in The Huffington Post:. The U.S. House is set to consider on the Republicans’ Jobs Through Growth Act, which contains a section aimed at reforming medical malpractice by imposing caps on…
NPR reports that a recent meeting of the Society for Neuroscience discussed why brain damage occurs in premature births. Research has revealed that the most common cause of brain injury in premature infants is a lack of oxygen in the days and weeks after birth. Apparently, the lack of oxygen damages…
In medical negligence cases in Tennessee there is often a dispute about whether the plaintiff can recover the amount of the medical charges or the amount actually paid by the private insurer or governmental entity like Medicare. This is a recent brief on the subject prepared by Brandon Bass, a…