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…
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance has released the 2009 Medical Malpractice Claims Report. Despite its title, the Report reveals data for calendar year 2008. This is the fifth report issued by the Department and contains more different types of data than released in previous years because of a…
The National Practioners Data Bank collects data about malpractice claims paid by health care professionals. The NPDB has a report that lists all of medical malpractice paid claims against all Tennessee health care providers between September 1, 1990 through November 29, 2009, a period one month short of 20 years.…
The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that a pharmacy does not owe a duty of care to unidentified third parties who were injured by a pharmacy customer who was driving while under the influence of controlled prescription drugs. In reaching the decision, the court rejected the arguments that pharmacies have a…
Today’s Tennessean has an article originally published in the Los Angeles Times that reveals a problem with nurses moving from state to state and leaving behind a bad disciplinary record. The article reports that "using public databases and state disciplinary reports, reporters found hundreds of cases in which registered nurses…
According to the 2009 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey, only 46 percent of U.S. doctors use electronic medical records, compared to 99 percent of doctors in the Netherlands and 97 percent of doctors in New Zealand and Norway. "We spend far more than any of the other countries in…
From the American Association for Justice: State tort reforms have provided a boon to insurance companies, leading to record profits while physician and patient premiums continue to skyrocket. An analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and company annual statements shows malpractice insurer profits are…
The Doctors Company is a medical malpractice insurer. Its website contains articles of interest to all Tennessee medical malpractice lawyers and, in fact, medical malpractice lawyers in every state. For example, one interesting article is titled "When to Evaluate for a Hypercoagulable State." Here is an excerpt: Hypercoagulability…
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a Policy Statement titled "Guidelines for Expert Testimony in Medical Malpractice Litigation. After reviewing the role of the expert witness in medical malpractice litigation, the Guidelines begin the "recommendations" section of the paper with this statement: The AAP recognizes that physicians have…
Here is the most up-to-date data on medical malpractice case filings in Tennessee. Regular readers know that effective October 1, 2008 the General Assembly imposed significant restrictions on patients who want to file a medical malpractice suits. The new law, which was modified again effective July 1, 2009, requires pre-suit…