Yesterday afternoon the Civil Practice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee voted 3-2 to reject a bill offered by Rep. Doug Overbey that would have capped pain and suffering awards to medical malpractice victims and placed other limitations on recoveries. Voting against the legislation were Chairman Briley, Majority Leader McMillian,…
The Civil Practice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee meets today to hear testimony on the medical malpractice reform bill sponsored by Rep. Doug Overbey. The legislation caps damages non-economic losses at $250,000 against providers and $250,000 against factilities, with no more than $500,000 awarded in any one case. It…
Here is an editorial from Wausau Daily Hearld Wisconsin, the county seat in my home county in the Northwoods. A sample: “Now legislators have pulled another number from thin air and set it as the cap after hearing tales of horror and woe from the state’s physicians. You likely heard…
Tort reform swept through Georgia in 2005, and now the harm and the potential for harm is beginning to be felt. This article from Atlanta’s leading newspaper explains the consquences of the offer of judgment rule. I hasten to note that the Tennessean has editorialized against tort reform for years.…
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the limitation of attorneys’ fees in medical negligence cases could be the subject of a knowing, voluntary waiver by a plaintiff in a medical negligence suit. It directed the Florida Bar (Florida has a unified bar association) to come up with an appropriate rule…
Health care industry lobbyists: read this article and then try again to convince me that juries are solely motivated by sympathy. In fact, given that most med mal cases concern serious injury or death (because of the economics of pursing the claims) what explanation do you have for defense verdicts…
This study by “Americans for Insurance Reform” says that the so-called crisis in the medical malpractice insurance market is over. The introduction to the report: “The most recent data from the Council of Independent Agents and Brokers now confirms that the large medical malpractice insurance rate increases that took hold…
The Tennessean was kind enough to publish an op-ed piece I wrote. Here is the full article from today’s paper. Health-care industry sells snake oil about malpractice By JOHN A. DAY Tennessee’s health-care industry has launched yet another assault on patients’ rights, seeking once again to limit its financial responsibility…
Here is the lead editorial in today’s Tennessean: Beware of quick fix on malpractice reform It’s a fact that Tennessee physicians, particularly those in some specialty groups, have to pay high rates for malpractice insurance. Those high premiums discourage young doctors from pursuing some specialties and drive practicing doctors out…
Here is the full text of a press release from AARP in Georgia: “ATLANTA – A full year after Governor Sonny Perdue signed into law some of the nation’s most severe changes to the state’s court system – stripping average Georgia families of their Constitutional right to access the justice…