Experienced trial lawyers – heck, people with experience in life – know that when people have a valid point to make they don’t have any reason to misrepresent facts. So when Justin Owen of Tennessee Center for Policy Research talks about the need for tort reform, you would think…
Articles Posted in Tort Reform
Secret Memo Found in Hotel Bar
With the current effort to help health care providers avoid full responsibility for their actions gaining steam in our state legislature, it seems appropriate to re-print this post from five years ago, with slight modifications. I found this memo at an empty corner table in the bar in the basement…
Governor’s Tort Reform Bill Introduced
Governor Haslam (R-Tenn.) has introduced his tort reform bill which, among other things, imposes an arbitrary cap on the damages a jury may award for pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium (in both personal injury cases and wrongful death cases). The proposed cap is…
Hot Off the Press: Medical Malpractice and the President
From the AP at 1:43 PM EST on 2/15/11 Obama starts drive for medical malpractice reforms WASHINGTON — Putting his own stamp on a long-standing Republican priority, President Barack Obama is launching a drive to overhaul state medical malpractice laws and cut down on wasteful tests doctors perform because they fear…
Doctor Turned Congressman Has A History of Malpractice Cases
Here is an interesting story from the New York Times. Malpractice Bill Raises Issues About a Lawsuit By BARRY MEIER Published: February 8, 2011 The lawmaker and retired obstetrician sponsoring a Congressional bill to sharply cut medical malpractice awards was involved in a $500,000 settlement of a malpractice lawsuit. The…
ProAssurance Profits Continue to Climb
ProAssurance, a nationwide medical malpractice insurer with 57,000 insureds that is based in Birmingham, has a growing presence in Tennessee. It has done very well the last few years. In 2005 it had pre-tax income of $109M, about 17% of revenues. In 2009 pre-tax income was $319M, about 52% of…
State of Tennessee Litigation Statistics From the AOC Annual Report – Part 5
As mentioned in the last four posts (here, here, here and here), the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has released the 2009-2010 Annual Report of the Judiciary. The Report Contains statistical data about our court system. Today we look at damage awards in several counties in the state. There are some obvious problems…
Tennessee Medical Malpractice Statistics – Successful Claims Against Physicans
The United States Department of Health and Human Services maintains a databank of individuals who have had medical malpractice settlements or judgments The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) and the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Integrity Data Bank (HIPDB) are information clearinghouses created by Congress to improve health care quality and…
State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company’s Profits Explode
Yesterday 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 another 8% reduction (or…
Medical Malpractice Insurer Slashes Rates
In recent days I have shared several posts (here, here, here, and here) concerning the substantial reduction in the number of medical malpractice cases filed in Tennessee since the enactment of the law that mandates pre-suit notice and filing of a certificate of good faith. Thus, it is not surprising…