Tort Reform « My Medical Malpractice Insurance News

September 2, 2010

Suit challenges cap on pain and suffering Lower court’s decision cuts award for plaintiff in half, negates wife’s share

Filed under: Doctor Liability Insurance, Medical Liability Insurance, Patients, Physician Liability Insurance, Tort Reform, West Virginia Medical Malpractice Insurance, med mal insurance — admin @ 3:15 pm

Side note: Medical malpractice reform law in the state of West Virginia is being tested in a closely watched case. A man who was treated in the City Hospital in the Eastern Panhandle claims that the drugs he was prescribed interacted with the medication that he was already taking to cause a condition called rhabdomyolysis, which causes a severe loss of muscle mass. Lawyers for the man claim that he is a “shadow of his former self” and are challenging the $500,000 dollar cap placed pain and suffering in the state of West Virginia. As we’ve seen in other states such as Illinois and Georgia, the laws governing medical malpractice insurance reform can be severely altered by the courts. West Virginia can be a tricky place for doctors to obtain medical malpractice insurance because most insurance brokers don’t have access to every insurer. This is why West Virginia physicians have turned to http://MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com for all their insurance needs. Want to lower your premium? Get a free, no obligation medical malpractice liability quote now.

by Ry Rivard
Daily Mail

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Supreme Court will hear a case challenging a key portion of the state’s painstakingly crafted medical malpractice reforms.

An Eastern Panhandle couple is challenging the Legislature’s $500,000 cap on damages for pain and suffering in malpractice suits.

The Legislature set the cap in 2003 to deal with what insurance companies said were the ballooning size of medical malpractice judgments and the fear of doctor flight.

The appeal, which the Supreme Court is supposed to hear arguments for early next year, is the most serious challenge of the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act. The case is set to draw the attention of a host of interest groups, including the American Medical Association, the Chamber of Commerce, AARP and trial lawyers.

In fall 2004, James MacDonald, 56, was admitted to City Hospital in the Eastern Panhandle for pneumonia. MacDonald was taking other medications because of a kidney transplant and other chronic conditions. The combination of those medications and new ones caused a condition called rhabdomyolysis that caused MacDonald’s muscles to waste away.

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Cincinnati Bengals criticized for medical handling of Rashad Jeanty, could result in a med-mal case

Filed under: Congress, Defensive Medicine, Doctor Liability Insurance, Entertainment, Health Care, History, Insurance, Patients, Physicians, Tort Reform, doctors, med mal insurance, physician malpractice insurance — admin @ 1:21 pm

Side note: Even the NFL is not immune to the threat of medical malpractice. Recently linebacker Rashad Jeanty was cut by the Cincinnati Bengals because he was not able to pass his physical. Jeanty’s agent claims that the reason his player is unable to pass his physical is do to a lingering condition stemming from a misdiagnosis of an injury sustained in last years play-off game. He claims that the injury has greatly diminished Jeantry’s value as a free agent and that a medical malpractice lawsuit against the Bengals is not out of the question. Of course we at the nation’s top med-mal insurance site for physicians does not know the details of this case…..but we do know that we live in an extreme litigious climate, and since jury’s have a tendency to vote out of emotion rather then fact (personal experience on being on a medical malpractice insurance case years before I joined this company), lawyers have a tendency to want to try these types of cases more then others. A few of us on the jury did agree that if there were strict penalties for lawyers who tried frivolous cases, then not only would our courts be freed up to deal with more important cases, but that would also lead to lower medical malpractice insurance costs, which would then lead to lower percentages of physicians practicing defensive medicine….which would then lead to lower healthcare costs. I know that’s a mouthful…..but during deliberation, we spoke about how easy the fix seems to be. Unfortunately, our government moves at a snail’s pace, and nothing ever seems to get accomplished. If you are looking to lower your costs during these economic times, get a free medical malpractice insurance quote for us, we not only will save you money, but we’ll show you what a knowledgeable agent can do for you.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal
It’s been a rough week for the Bengals medical staff.

One day after the team had to admit a very expensive mistake with Antonio Bryant, the agent for deposed linebacker Rashad Jeanty sharply criticized how the team handled his client this off-season.

Jeanty fractured his fibula in the playoffs last year, and the team initially told him he didn’t need surgery. When Jeanty visited Miami as a restricted free agent, the Dolphins told him he would need major surgery on his ankle to stabilize his leg, according to Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The Dolphins lost interest, and Jeanty underwent the surgery shortly thereafter. On Monday, the Bengals waived Jeanty for failing a physical.

“It’s tremendously disappointing on the way this has been handled,” his agent David Canter told Reedy. “We don’t see how the Cincinnati Bengals can do this without any inclination that this was even a possibility.

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Kankakee County: Medical malpractice ruling stirs discord

Filed under: Doctor Liability Insurance, History, Illinois, Illinois Medical Malpractice Insurance, Insurance, Medical Liability Insurance, Patients, Physicians, Tort Reform, doctor malpractice insurance, doctors — admin @ 9:20 am

side note: The unpopular reversal of the Illinois medical malpractice reform law has become a hot topic in the upcoming, Nov. 2, Supreme Court retention elections. The Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch has parked a billboard truck in front Kankakee County Courthouse proclaiming the slogan “Good Judges Matter.” This display of dissatisfaction about the courts recent ruling on the medical malpractice reform has not escaped the notice of Thomas Kilbride, an Illinois Supreme Court Justice who was raised in Kankakee. Visit http://www.mymedicalmalpracticeinsurance.com to see how the Illinois Supreme Courts ruling has affected medical malpractice insurance rates in Illinois.

By Robert Themer
Daily-Journal.com

Parked in front of the Kankakee County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon, the narrow “billboard truck” of the Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch proclaimed “Good Judges Matter.”

Further, and likely a first, it urged voters: “On Nov. 2, don’t forget to vote in the Supreme Court retention elections.”

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August 31, 2010

Even with malpractice insurance, doctors opt for expensive, defensive medicine

Filed under: Congress, Defensive Medicine, Doctor Liability Insurance, Health Care, Health Insurance Coverage, History, Insurance, Malpractice Insurance, Medical Liability Insurance, Medical Malpractice Insurance, Patients, Physicians, President Barack Obama, Tort Reform, doctor malpractice insurance, doctors, med mal insurance — admin @ 10:40 am

side note: This is unfortunately all too common among doctors in our country. I’d say most, if not all people who want to end up in medicine get in for the right reasons: they want to help people. We live in a world however that is filled with lawsuits and lawyers….that will for the most part, take on any case, even if they themselves believe it’s without merit. This leads to the 83% of frivolous lawsuits that are put through our legal system each year. We are at a crossroads in regards to our health care……the costs are spiraling out of control, and one of the first steps we can take is to help protect our physicians, doctors and other healthcare professionals from unfair lawsuits. This leads the doctors to perform unnecessary tests….etc, which leads to more expensive healthcare costs…..and when you start doing this to most people…..the costs are staggering! Defensive Medicine…or CYA medicine (Cover Your Ass) needs to be addressed! If it is….then other things such as frivolous lawsuits will start to decline…along with healthcare costs. That will lead to lower medical malpractice insurance costs for doctors.

By Manoj Jain
Special to The Washington Post

Doctor learns that a medical malpractice claim is being filed against him. Will this raise the cost of his medical malpractice insurance? Will this cause him to practice defensive medicine? Some months ago, the receptionist in my clinic handed me a registered letter. The name of the sender seemed familiar. “Dear Sir,” the letter read. “Please be advised that this letter serves as official notice that I am considering a potential claim against you in a medical Malpractice claim in regard to my husband. . . .” I stood, stunned. My white coat, which held the daily tools of my profession — my list of patients, the Sanford antibiotic manual, a black stethoscope — felt extraordinarily heavy.

While my receptionist and staff made themselves busy and waited for my reaction, I struggled to recall the patient, so many patients ago . . . and my alleged misdeed. I checked the administrative data, which showed that the man had died about a year before. Had I missed a lab test among the hundreds that I order each week? Had I failed to read a blood culture report? Had some error of mine resulted in his death?

I generally think of myself as a confident and conscientious practitioner, but my pulse was racing and my palms were moist as I reviewed the patient’s hospital chart that afternoon. He had been a man in his late 60s with a bacterial infection in his lungs. I checked the reports on all the cultures I had ordered: blood, urine, sputum. Then I checked the antibiotics I had prescribed. There was no mismatch; he had been on appropriate treatment. I asked another doctor to double-check me.

Had I been negligent? No.

I was relieved — but still accused. More important, the letter made me reflect on the paradoxes of our medical malpractice system.

Most malpractice suits turn out to be against doctors who were not at fault. Of every 100 malpractice claims filed, only 17 appeared to involve a negligent injury, such as a medication overdose resulting in death, according to a 2004 New England Journal of Medicine review.

This means that patients and lawyers appear to be suing the doctors and hospitals for non-negligent injury 83 percent of the time.

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August 13, 2010

Nevada’s Sharron Angle says there is nothing wrong with the U.S. health care system

Filed under: Congress, Health Care, Insurance, Nevada Medical Malpractice Insurance, Patients, Physicians, President Barack Obama, Tort Reform, doctor malpractice insurance, doctors, med mal, med mal insurance, physician malpractice insurance — admin @ 8:01 am

Side note: Must be an election year! One of the biggest races shaping up this year is the Senatorial seat currently being held by the powerful Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. His primary challenger, Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate, wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Candidate Angle believes that heath care can be made affordable by implementing tort-reform. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), agrees with her. The CBO claims in a recent report that $50 billion could be saved over a ten year period if lawmakers implemented tort reform to lower the cost of medical malpractice insurance. Nevada is a state that has implemented caps on it medial malpractice insurance awards but the legislation is currently being looked at by the courts. Physician in Nevada do pay quite a bit for their medical malpractice insurance compared to the rest of the nation. For example, an OB/Gyn in Nevada (Clark County) paid $132,620 over a one year period if they purchased med-mal insurance from PIC Wisconsin.

Sheila Guilloton
Health Care Examiner

Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate trying to unseat Harry Reid, said that there is nothing wrong with the U.S. health care system. Speaking with reporter Marco Villarreal from KTNV Action News, Angle said that the U.S. has “the best healthcare system in the world.” She went on to say that “our doctors are the best.”

Wants the federal health care reform law repealed

On her official website, the candidate proposes the following solutions for health care.

She would repeal and replace ObamaCare. ObamaCare has become a pet name for the Affordable Care Act passed in March, 2010.

Angle lists replacement of ObamaCare as a necessary solution but does not offer any concrete ideas for a replacement plan. Her recent interview may explain why. She does not think there was anything wrong with the system as it existed in the U.S. prior to March 2010.

She would eliminate coverage mandates. Coverage mandates are a part of the Affordable Care Act so if it is repealed the federal mandatory coverage requirement would go away. Two states, Massachusetts and Hawaii, have state mandated coverage.

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August 9, 2010

Connecticut’s New Mediation Law No Panacea, Say Med-Mal Lawyers

Filed under: Connecticut Medical Malpractice Insurance, Doctor Liability Insurance, Insurance, Medical Liability Insurance Rates by State, Medical Malpractice Insurance, Physicians, Tort Reform, doctor malpractice insurance, doctors, med mal, med mal insurance, physician malpractice insurance — admin @ 8:20 am

Side note: In an effort to lower the cost of medical malpractice insurance in Connecticut lawmakers have imposed mandatory mediation in all medical malpractice cases. According to the new law all medical malpractice cases must undergo a 120 day period of mediation. After the period of mediation expires, if the two sides cannot come upon an agreement, the case will proceed to trial.

Connecticut law makers imposed the period of mediation as an alternative to caps on medical malpractice lawsuits that are popular in many cases. Attorneys and lawmakers alike agree that the mediation period is not a magic cure-all but agree that it may help to weed some of the nuisance law suits that tend to drive up the cost of medical malpractice insurance coverage.

According to our unique, historical data, medical malpractice insurance rates in Connecticut have remained stable in recent years but have not decreased from the highs established in 2005. Connecticut law makers hope that the mandatory mediation period will help maintain, if not lower, the cost of medical malpractice insurance in the state on Connecticut.

by Thomas B. Scheffey
The Connecticut Law Tribune

Plaintiff and defense lawyers are trying to gauge the overall impact of a new state mandate requiring mediation in medical malpractice cases.

So far, the apparent consensus is the new law may take smaller cases off the litigation track, but won’t resolve big-ticket cases that require the opinions of experts and extensive discovery.

The provision, which became effective July 1, calls for the presiding judge in the judicial district where a med-mal case is filed to refer the matter to a 120-day period of mediation or to another form of alternative dispute resolution “before the close of the pleadings.”

The first mediation session is to be conducted by the presiding judge, or another designated judge, not more than 20 business days after the initial referral. At the end of the one mandatory session, if the judge and parties don’t agree the matter can be settled, and don’t agree to continued mediation, “mandatory mediation under this section shall end.”

But if the one-session mandatory phase fails, the parties may agree to keep trying, and the statute next calls for the presiding judge to refer the case for mediation. The judge is to make a referral to a Connecticut lawyer with at least five years of membership in the state bar. Plaintiffs and defense parties split mediation costs.

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August 4, 2010

Report Ranks States on Need for Medical Malpractice Reform

side note: The U.S. Index of Health Ownership, published by PRI, will not be updated in full for 2010, but there is a 2010 U.S. Tort Liability Index. The Tort Index includes 42 variables divided into inputs and outputs. The top states in inputs are Oklahoma, Texas, and Ohio. Top in outputs are Alaska, Hawaii, and North Carolina. The U.S. Index of Health Ownership borrows 8 of these 42 variables to create a new a medical-tort index*. The top five in this ranking are Mississippi, Nevada, Michigan, Colorado, and Louisiana. Bottom five are Iowa, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Evidence indicates that even the top states are lagging in some variables, leading to increased health care costs and defensive medicine.

Eight Variables:
1) ratio of malpractice losses per projected personal health expenditures
2) pain and suffering caps
3) caps on punitive damages
4) attorney fee limits
5) pre-trial screening/arbitration
6) FDA/FTC defense allowed?
7) conditions for expert witnesses
8 ) statue of limitations

We think that information like this is important to get into the average Joe’s hand b/c with knowledge comes power……we need to educate folks on why they have been paying more for their healthcare and to protect an important asset of every community: The Physician.

There are many variables that go into why a doctor pays as much as they do for medical malpractice insurance, but this is a very important one.

Written By: Sarah McIntosh
Publication date: 08/04/2010
Publisher: The Heartland Institute

physician worrys about Tort reform effecting the cost of her medical malpractice insurance A new report by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a San Francisco-based think tank, ranks the states on their medical-malpractice and tort liability policies and indicates where each state has room to improve. The study ranks the fifty states based on numerous factors, which together illustrate the importance of medical malpractice reform in controlling health care costs, according to study author John Graham.

Using information from the 2010 edition of the U.S. Tort Liability Index by Lawrence J. McQuillan and Hovannes Abramyan, which analyzed some 42 variables, PRI ranked the states by calculating where they ought to stand on each type of measurement. John Graham, director of health care studies at PRI and author of the report, said the study illustrates which states are “getting it right” and which are not.

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July 14, 2010

Senator Coburn and Barrasso release Obamacare report

Filed under: Congress, Defensive Medicine, Health Care, Insurance, Medical Liability Insurance, Op/Ed, Patients, Physician Liability Insurance, Physicians, Practice Tools, President Barack Obama, Tort Reform, doctor malpractice insurance, doctors, hospitals, med mal insurance, physician malpractice insurance — admin @ 8:35 am

This report, titled “Bad Medicine: A Check-Up On The New Federal Health Law” takes a look at the implementation of Obamacare after 100 days since it was passed. We here at MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com were not too pleased with the final version of this bill, mainly because it didn’t include decent Tort Reform legislation that would help lead to the lower cost of medical malpractice insurance for doctors. Malpractice insurance was one arena that both President Obama and Republicans found common ground and looked to make some advancements…..but they never materialized.

This report is interesting reading, but we can’t help but think that 100 days isn’t long enough to know if a major bill…..one that comes around once or twice per generation, will have a positive or negative effect on health care costs….especially as the Boomers continue to retire in droves.

MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com have long been advocates for doctors and have championed legislation that will enable the doctor/patient relationship to be the most important thing in healthcare. We have put together a Patient Satisfaction Survey System for doctors to help lower liability by learning what the patient thinks of the practice. This system is free of charge to all of our clients…..and it’s available in 9 languages. This is just one of the many free services we offer our clients because at the end of the day……the doctor is what matters the most. Some of the other services are:

Free Risk Manager on staff

Custom Office Policies and Procedures Manual for your practice,

Lower your med-mal insurance costs today……fill our our med-mal insurance quote form and we’ll save you money….it’s quick and easy.

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June 17, 2010

How Medicare’s Payment Cuts For Cancer Chemotherapy Drugs Changed Patterns Of Treatment

Filed under: Congress, Defensive Medicine, Doctor Liability Insurance, Health Care, History, Insurance, Medical Malpractice Insurance, Medicare, Physicians, President Barack Obama, Tort Reform, doctors, med mal insurance, physician malpractice insurance — admin @ 1:59 pm

side note: A very interesting article on how reforms implemented at the Federal level can have real world consequences and why we should move slowly with the new healthcare bill. We have mixed feelings on the bill b/c we foresee both positive and negative impacts on doctors and their bottom lines. If doctors keep seeing Medicare patients, they will have a pool of roughly 30 million potential new clients……with the recently implemented Medicare cuts, we think that the ever important doctor-patient relationship will take a hit b/c physicians will need to see more patients on a daily basis to deal with the 21% cuts.

We didn’t like the fact that tough Tort Reform was not included in the final bill. We truly believe that even though on the surface, med mal insurance rates for doctors is a drop in the bucket as it relates to how much money our country spends on health care….we do think that the cost of malpractice insurance rates for doctors leads to the practice of defensive medicine. Which in turn leads to more money spent, and wasted, on healthcare related items.

We do not have crystal ball, so it’s difficult to see how this will play out….but we do have history to look back on, and we do know that there are always unforeseen issues that pop up that our politicians in DC never saw coming.

http://content.healthaffairs.org
by Mireille Jacobson, Craig C. Earle, Mary Price, and Joseph P. Newhouse

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, enacted in 2003, substantially reduced payment rates for chemotherapy drugs administered on an outpatient basis starting in January 2005. We assessed how these reductions affected the likelihood and setting of chemotherapy treatment for Medicare beneficiaries with newly diagnosed lung cancer, as well as the types of agents they received. Contrary to concerns about access, we found that the changes actually increased the likelihood that lung cancer patients received chemotherapy. The type of chemotherapy agents administered also changed.

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June 15, 2010

Obama Administration Invests in Research to Lower Rate of Medical Malpractice Costs

Filed under: Congress, Insurance, Medical Liability Insurance, Medical Liability Insurance Rates by State, Patients, Physician Liability Insurance, Physicians, President Barack Obama, Tort Reform, doctor malpractice insurance, doctors, medical malpractice insurance companies — admin @ 6:31 am

Side note: On Friday, the Obama administration began distributing nearly $25 million in funds to research institutions for projects designed to lower the rate and cost of medical malpractice lawsuits. Several large universities and medical systems are among the recipients, including Ohio State University in Columbus and Multicare Health System in Tacoma, Washington.

The funds were set aside last September as part of a promise to Republican members of Congress. The hope is that these research projects will be able to uncover new methods that will reduce errors and injuries and increase communication between doctors and patients. Ideally, these innovations would lower the number medical malpractice lawsuits and, ultimately, the cost of medical malpractice insurance.

Though $25 million is a small amount to throw at such a large problem, it is important to see that the concerns of doctors and hospitals are not being ignored. Hopefully, these efforts will prove successful, and physicians will see a real decrease in the cost of liability insurance.

Mimi Hall
USA Today

The Obama administration, following through on a promise the president made last fall to Republicans in Congress, today began doling out nearly $25 million in grants for projects aimed at reducing medical malpractice lawsuits and costs.

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