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…
The Doctor’s Company sells medical malpractice insurance to doctors. In 2010, it conducted 525 patient safety site surveys. The surveys were conducted across a range of practice environments around the country—from small office practices to large integrated delivery systems, hospitals, and outpatient facilities, such as surgery centers. The survey found…
Sounds outrageous, doesn’t it? A guy kills his mother and then the Georgia Supreme Court says he has a right to sue his psychiatrist for inappropriate psychiatric treatment that gave rise to the death of his mother. It is outrageous only if you know nothing about either law or…
The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to determine whether a limit on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases violates the state’s constitution. The law was passed in 2003 as part of a Republican-led effort to limit the rights of medical malpractice victims. The damages cap in Florida is $500,000 per…
Insurance Journal reports that a Kentucky jury has sided with a physician who is alleged to have amputated a portion of his patient’s penis without the patient’s consent. The article states that "[t]he doctor said he decided to amputate less than an inch of the penis after he found potentially deadly cancer…
Kenneth Levine of Kenneth Levine and Associates of Brookline, Massachusetts has filed a fascinating lawsuit against the authors of an article on brachial plexus injuries and the publication that printed the article. Levine alleges that the article, "Permanent Brachial Plexus Injury Following Vaginal Delivery Without Physician Traction or Shoulder Dystocia…
Max Kennerly has a great post on a study on medical malpractice that was recently published in the NEJM. Read it here.