The following comes to us from an article written by Chelsey Ledue, Associate Editor of Healthcare Finance News: Fewer medical malpractice payments were made on behalf of doctors in 2009 than any year on record, according to the National Practitioner Data Bank. This finding contradicts claims that medical malpractice litigation…
I read Andrew Cohen’s article in the Atlantic (Tort Reform is Anti-Democratic (And Ingeniously Marketed)) and thought I would summarize it for your convenience. Then I discovered that Philip Thomas had already done so, and quickly determined that he did a better job than I would have done. Here is…
Will the President sacrifice the rights of patients injured by medical malpractice to get Republicans to sign-off on a health care bill? Steven Olsen explains why the President should not in this article titled "Why Shouldn’t Obama Throw Injured Patients Under the Bus to Get Heath Reform? Ask Steven Olsen." Steven…
Team Health Holdings, Inc. is a physician-founded, physician-led outsourced healthcare professionals staffing organization. Based in Knoxville, TN, it purports to be "the largest providers of [Emergency Department] staffing and management services in the United States, based upon patient visits and revenue." The company serves "approximately 550 hospital clients and…
A bill has been introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly to cap "non-economic" damages in medical malpractice lawsuits to $1,000,000, regardless of the degree of harm suffered by the patient. Non-economic damages are defined as " damages for physical and emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, discomfort, physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of…
Legislation has been introduced that would require a patient suing an emergency room doctor, on-call specialist, or hospital providing emergency room services to prove that the negligence of the provider rose to level of gross negligence. Given the declining number of medical malpractice cases and the fact that there are…
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.…
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…
Maine requires that a medical screening panel hear a medical malpractice case before it can be heard by a jury. Tennessee had screening panels in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they were abandoned because all agreed that they were ridiculous. Now, Senator Snowe wants to require that states…
Senator Ensign (R-Nevada) introduced an amendment to limit contingent fees in medical malpractice cases. The Senator attempted to attached the language to amendment SA 2786 to H.R. 3590, which is intended to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the first-time homebuyers credit in the case of members of…