By Elizabeth Cooney http://www.boston.com/ Despite assertions that high malpractice rates are driving them out of the state, Massachusetts doctors are paying less than they were in 1990, after adjusting for inflation, according to a Suffolk University Law School study. Massachusetts ranks fourth in the nation for money paid to settle malpractice cases and is one […]

Paul A. Nutting, MD, MSPH, Associate Editor http://www.annfammed.org/ Family medicine has entered a fascinating period of transition and rebirth. In 2004 the Annals was pleased to publish the Future of Family Medicine (FFM) report1 and to track the rich discussion of family physicians in practice, academia, research, and policy.2 The FFM report quickly spawned the […]

http://www.news-medical.net/ Giving physicians cash payments for reduced hospital spending can help control costs without sacrificing quality or access to care, researchers report in a study released today in the May/June 2008 issue of the journal Health Affairs. The issue is a thematic volume on health reform supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson […]

By Stephen Moore http://online.wsj.com For most of the past 30 years, Mississippi has ranked as one of the poorest as well as one of the most litigious states. The two statistics are related. I met with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour recently, and this politician, best known for helping his state rebuild after Hurricane Katrina in […]

By WILLIAM McCALL Associated Press Writer http://www.chron.com PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Supreme Court has upheld a five-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice lawsuits involving minors. The court ruled Thursday against a claim that laws in effect when Oregon was a territory blocked a five-year statute of limitations that the Legislature approved after Oregon […]

By Kathleen Doheny http://www.washingtonpost.com/ MONDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) — As medical malpractice premiums increase, so do the rates of Caesarean sections, new research shows. The study provides a small snapshot of the association, drawing on data from the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. The findings, while not national in scope, could further […]

http://www.ihealthbeat.org The North Carolina Medical Board is considering a plan to post information on medical malpractice lawsuit settlements on its Web site beginning in 2009, the Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area reports. The information on the settlements would contain the physician’s name, when the case was settled and an optional box where physicians […]

Tara Weiss http://www.forbes.com/ No one ever said being a doctor was easy. School and training go on seemingly forever; once graduation arrives, doctors work long hours and are faced with life-and-death decisions daily. But there were rewards. For decades, doctors earned hefty paychecks, had autonomy and respect. But those benefits are fading, and as a […]

By Autumn Buys http://newsnet.byu.edu With the 2008 presidential election creeping closer, issues and controversies from around the nation are being tugged from their shadows to be diagnosed and treated by each candidate. One of these issues is medical liability reform. This term refers to the increasing rate physicians pay in insurance premiums to compensate for […]