Last month, the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), joined by six healthcare organizations, announced the launch of a new initiative to improve the commonwealth’s medical liability system. The new alliance collectively created what it refers to as the Roadmap to Reform, an alternative approach to medical liability rooted in the process of Disclosure, Apology and Offer […]

Last week, the Massachusetts Medical Society announced that six of its top healthcare organizations would be launching a new initiative aimed at improving the commonwealth’s medical liability system and lowering the cost of medical malpractice insurance premiums. The new initiative is titled, “Roadmap to Reform,” and it is based on the Disclosure, Apology and Offer […]

Missouri is one of three states where its Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of non-economic damage caps in medical malpractice cases. The other two states are Florida and Indiana. On March 27, the Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case where a child was stricken with cerebral palsy and brain damage during […]

Defensive medicine has been a topic of national discussion since the healthcare reform debates dominated the news cycle in 2009 and much of 2010. Defensive medicine is commonly referred to as the practice of ordering diagnostic tests primarily as a safeguard against medical malpractice lawsuits. These unnecessary tests are ordered primarily to both deter medical […]

The Supreme Court of Florida recently heard oral arguments in the case Evette McCall v. United States of America. At the heart of the case is whether Florida’s cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases is constitutional or not. Florida passed a $500,000 cap on non-economic damages in 2003. The amount would increase to […]

The Connecticut Senate Judiciary Committee recently approved legislation that would significantly hamper the effectiveness of the state’s 2005 medical malpractice tort reforms. In 2005, the Connecticut legislature passed a law that requires a person alleging medical malpractice to get a written opinion from a physician practicing in a similar specialty as the accused that supports […]

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 […]

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 […]