If you have a potential claim for professional misconduct against a therapist for sexually abusing or inappropriately touching a patient, don’t forget that Tennessee has a special act for such torts. The act is known as the "Therapist Sexual Misconduct Victims Compensation Act." It is codified at T.C.A. Section 29-26-201…
The government of Thailand wants to have a scheme to compensate victims of medical malpractice. Many Thai doctors are opposed to the law. Here is an argument made by the physicians, as reported in Taiwan News: It means our staff would have to be extra careful during work, which would…
A recent study gives yet another reason of why it is difficult for a plaintiff to win a medical malpractice case in Nashville. MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center has released a study that states that puts health care industry’s annual economic impact in Nashville at $30 billion. That represents an…
On June 15, 2010 I reported that SVMIC, the bedpan mutual that insures the vast majority of Tennessee doctors, reduced its rates by 23.1% . I also reported that the company declared a $20,000,000 dividend. The net effect of the dividend means that policyholders with a history of no paid claims will receive…
The Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ordered a district judge to re-consider the fee to be awarded to plaintiff’s counsel in a personal injury case that resulted in a $18M dollar settlement. The district court had cut the fee from $6M to $600,000. The appellate court concluded that…
Max Kennerly has this interesting post that sprung from a post on Kevin, M.D. about a doctor who was a victim of poor medical care. The doctor went to a lawyer, not because she wanted money (she said) but because she wanted an apology. The lawyer couldn’t take her case…
The Georgia Supreme Court has struck down a cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases, declaring the cap to be a violation of the right to trial by jury. The case is Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. v. Nestlehutt, NO. SO9A1432 (Ga. March 22, 2010). Read the opinion here.…
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance has released the forms for reporting on medical malpractice claims for the 2009 calendar year. The reports are due March 1, 2010. Here are the instructions for filling out forms as a representative of the claimant. Here is the link to the reporting…
Tennessee’s nursing homes rank the 5th worst in the United States, according to an analysis done by the Tennessean. The February 3, 2010 article points out that [a]bout 15,000 nursing homes nationwide got ratings of one to five stars, with five being the best, from the U.S. Centers for…
The Tennessee Medical Malpractice Claims Report for 2009 (which reports data for 2008) contains lots of information of interest to lawyers who represent Tennesseans in medical malpractice claims. Last week I wrote about the number of claims closed in 2008 and the amount paid on these claims. Today I will…