On March 22, the United States House of Representatives voted 223-181 to pass House Resolution 5 (HR 5), the Protecting Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act, which would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) for Medicare as well as place a federal $250,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, limit punitive damages, establish […]

No matter what type of medical malpractice insurance policy you may be covered under, it is important to understand the tail feature of the policy. The agents and brokers of MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com discuss medical malpractice insurance tail features and explain tail concepts to physicians and medical providers on a daily basis. So, what is a medical […]

On March 15, the New Hampshire Senate unveiled Senate Bill 406, an early offer program for the state’s medical liability lawsuits. If enacted, the bill promises to have a deflating effect on the cost of medical malpractice insurance for doctors and the overall cost of medical malpractice litigation in the state. The early offers program […]

A bill currently in front of the Connecticut General Assembly, and championed by the trial lawyers lobby, intends to weaken the definition of an expert witness in medical malpractice lawsuits. If the requirements attached to expert testimony are weakened, it would likely have an inflationary effect on medical malpractice insurance rates for healthcare workers practicing […]

On March 9th, the Florida legislature adjourned its 2012 session without passing three anticipated healthcare liability bills. The liability bills would have dealt with assisted-living facilities, medical malpractice lawsuits and the dispensing of drugs to workers-comp patients. Of greatest concern to the Florida Medical Association and its physician members was the bill dealing with medical […]

When faced with a medical malpractice claim, a physician’s most important line of defense is the medical record of his or her interactions with the patient. A properly maintained medical record system can be the golden shield that proves the doctor followed best practice standards; a medical record altered post-claim can be the sword a […]

No one is arguing that electronic health records are not the future of healthcare. Since the passage of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, the federal government has been using financial incentives to coax physicians and other healthcare workers into purchasing and employing electronic health records. The government and most health experts agree […]

The Supreme Court of Utah just opened a giant can of worms in regard to medical professional liability. And those worms could be a harbinger of rising medical malpractice insurance rates for the state’s physician and surgeon communities. On Feb. 28, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that healthcare providers have a duty to consider how […]

I recently read about a study on ScienceDaily.com that reviewed a study published in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. The study aimed at investigating a long-held belief by many physicians that poor patients are more likely to sue their physicians for med mal. The study looked at med mal data, including med mal claims and […]