side note: The Louisiana Medical Society took heed from the woes of states like Wisconsin and New Hampshire. Both state governments raided their Patient Compensation Fund as a way of balancing their budgets. Both states’ medical societies fought the move in court; both medical societies came out winners. While both PCFs were eventually given their […]

side note: I find this article interesting for two reasons: 1. Caps on non-economic damages have proven to reduce medical malpractice insurance premiums in states that have them and a federal cap 0n non-economic damages has long been championed as the solution to skyrocketing healthcare costs by the Republican Party; 2. Applying a one-size-fits-all federal […]

Side Note: When a significant medical error occurs, it is very hard for a physician to know what to do. Depending on what state you live in, the ramifications of admitting a medical error can be vastly different. In some states, if a physician offers a patient an apology, it can be used as evidence […]

side note: This story is interesting because it illustrates the Catch-22 the Republican party faces with tort reform. The modern Republican party has aligned itself with libertarian and small-government, states’ rights proponents. They have also aligned themselves with the business and physician communities. The former think that the federal government has no right to impose […]

side note: New York is one of the states using funds designated by the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act to set-up alternative resolution models for medical malpractice cases. One of the more popular ideas — a specific court for medical malpractice cases — was launched in the state on Sept. 1. It will be […]

side note: On Sept. 1, a series of tort reforms—signed into law in May—intended to expedite the resolution of lawsuits and discourage plaintiffs from filing non-meritorious actions went into effect. These new reforms are in addition to the already stringent reforms enacted in 2003. Following is a closer look at the new regulations concerning lawsuits […]

Side Note: Last week we talked about the uniqueness of the emergency room –specifically, how the acuteness of the patient’s situation, paired with the lack of a medical record, often produces a situation ripe with liability exposure and potential medical malpractice. Today, we face a similar situation –how pharmacists in New Hampshire are being allowed […]

side note: Word on the street is that the cap on non-economic damages in Florida is likely to be overturned. What’s been going on in Florida is simialr to what happened two years ago in Illinois. Medical malpractice insurance rates haven’t been positively affected by the Florida cap because everyone in the industry expects it […]

Side Note: Medical malpractice tort reform is good at accomplishing a lot of things: it can help keep the cost of medical malpractice insurance lower for physicians, it can help reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, and it can help reduce the number of extra tests that physicians order to protect themselves in case they […]