Senators Clinton and Obama have written an article about the need for patient safety for the New England Journal of Medicine. The opening paragraph: “We have visited doctors and hospitals throughout the country and heard firsthand from those who face ever-escalating insurance costs. Indeed, in some specialties, high premiums are…
Last week Tennessee’s health care industry tried to hijack the Governor’s Cover Tennessee bill in an effort to obtain caps on their liability. The effort failed, thanks to the efforts of the entire Democratic Caucus in the Senate, Chairpman Person (R-Memphis), Senator Williams, and others. The industry worked to amend…
The property and causalty insurance cycle, understood by everyone except some (but not all) Republican lawmakers, continues to turn. Insurance company profits are swelling and insurance price increases have come to a virtual halt. Last year premiums rose an average of one-half of one percent and net income increased 12%,…
The Senate has just had the cloture vote on S.B. 22. The result was 48 – 42 to continue debate. Sixty votes were required to cut off debate. The fillibuster stands; debate continues. They are now voting on S.B. 23. UPDATE AT 5:21: The result on SB 23 was 49…
2:17 P.M. Monday: Here is the link to the CSPAN site where you can watch the debate: Debate
Senator Frist and his friends are back with another bill to restrict the rights of medical malpractice victims. Here is the bill, known as S.B. 22. Expect a vote on cloture today or tomorrow. The legislation includes caps on noneconomic damages, uniform statutes of limitations (except in states that have…
Joint and several liability has been abolished in the State of Florida. Here is a copy of the bill, courtesy of Matt at Abstract Appeal.
ATLA CEO Jon Haber’s Statement in Response to Bush’s Attacks Today on the Civil Justice System (Washington, DC)-ATLA CEO Jon Haber issued the following statement in response to Bush’s attacks today on the civil justice system: “It would take the President less than a minute to discover the number of…
Lynn Swann, Republican candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania, has called for tort reform. Read more here. Yet another reason for me to dislike the Steelers (except the Bus – I think the Bus is fantastic.) Thanks to Torts Prof Blog for bringing this article to my attention.
Texas passed damage caps and other legal “reform” measures and now people are starting to understand the harm that we predicted would occur. This article explains the costs. An excerpt: “But the reforms have exacted a high price, particularly among the very old and very young, patient advocates say. Because…