The Commercial Appeal wrote an interesting story on medical malpractice litigation in today’s paper. Read it here. An excerpt: Nationwide, the number of payments physicians made for malpractice claims fell to 11,037 last year — the lowest figure since the National Practitioner Data Bank began tracking data in 1990. Adjusted…
An article by Robert Heath in Monday’s Washington Post gives us some of the financial details of the practice of Dr. Robert Hardi, a D.C. gastroenterologist. Dr. Hardi has about 4500 patient visits per year and performs about 1150 procedures. He works about 47 weeks per year. Thus, Dr. Hardi has about 5650 patient…
Senator Orin Hatch (R-Nevada) asked the Congressional Budget Office to update its previous findings concerning the effect that restrictions on the rights of patients to hold the health care industry responsible for errors that kill or injure patients ("tort reform"). Here are some of the findings from the report: "National…
From the American Association for Justice’s new report, The Insurance Hoax: How Doctors and Patients Pay for the Huge Earnings of Medical Malpractice Insurers : As Congress debates nationwide health care reform, a new analysis reveals malpractice insurers have long-played a cruel hoax on legislators and the public. By systematically…
This column from the Business Section of today’s Los Angeles Times attacks the myth that restriction of the rights of patients to hold health care providers responsible for harming patients must be a part of national healthcare reform. An excerpt: Every circus needs a sideshow, which must be why every time…
I recently wrote this post about the certificate of merit law struck down by the Washington Supreme Court. Here is an editorial from The Olympian which supports the Court’s decision. Here is an excerpt: The justices were right to keep the barrier between the legislative and judicial branches of government.…
Here is an op-ed from today’s Politico titled "Putting Trial Lawyers out of Business." August was quite the month in the ongoing health care saga. Death panels. Scaring seniors. Angry mobs discovering new villains to blame for the terrible health care system we find ourselves having to fix today. And then we have…
President Obama announced yesterday that the government will set aside $25 million to support state grants for pilot programs to reduce medical malpractice lawsuits. ABC News describes the grant process this way: The Department of Health and Human Services will oversee the process for states to launch and test initiatives…
The Washington Supreme Court has struck down the filing of a certificate of merit in medical malpractice cases in Washington state. The certificate is required by RCW 7.70.150. The opinion said that the statute was unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers between the Legislature and the Judiciary and…
The Georgia Legislature imposed a cap on noneconomic damages in meritorious medical malpractice cases in 2005. The cap is $350,000. In a case tried in Fulton County several years ago, the jury’s verdict exceeded the cap, and the Georgia Supreme Court is now considering whether the cap is…