By SEN. JOHN CORNYN http://www.chron.com From Indian medicine men to frontier “saddlebag docs,” Texas has a long, rich history of pioneers in medicine. Early Texas physicians often met the medical needs of entire families, traveling long distances on horseback just to provide care. In more urban settings, such as Galveston, physicians began renting facilities for […]

By Faiza Elmasry http://www.voanews.com Florida International University is opening the first new medical school in a major metropolitan area in a quarter-century. It will be the first public medical school in South Florida. Although the new school won’t hold its first classes until next year, it has already attracted a lot of attention. As Faiza […]

Associated Press http://www.kolotv.com RENO, Nev. (AP) – A health scare linked to unsafe practices at surgical centers across Nevada is prompting some lawmakers to press for a review concerning a voter-imposed cap on medical malpractice punitive damage awards. While most support the caps – which limit awards to $350,000 for pain and suffering – some […]

By Steven K. Paulson http://www.insurancejournal.com A Colorado House committee delayed action on a bill that would increase the amount juries can award in some medical malpractice suits after doctors warned it could force them to stop practicing and make health care more expensive. Democrats said the bill, backed by trial lawyers, simply returns the law […]

Associated Press http://www.goerie.com HARRISBURG — A bill aimed at providing health coverage to about 270,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians passed the state House of Representatives on Monday but faces long odds in the Senate. The 118-81 vote would establish the Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care program, covering legal U.S. residents ages 19 to 64 who meet income […]

Steve Reznick M.D. http://www.sun-sentinel.com The March 11 commentary by Gary M. Cohen, “Insurance industry what’s hurting doctors,” on the Stone medical malpractice case, fails to mention that hospitals have had to pay for coverage of their emergency rooms because of the malpractice crisis in this state. There is a shortage of key specialists, with neurosurgery […]

By Becky Pallack http://www.azstarnet.com Southern Arizona will have 118 additional doctors-in-training in the next three years under a new sponsorship collaboration between University Physicians Healthcare and the University of Arizona. University and hospital leaders hope that will help ease the local physician shortage. It’s a rare thing for hospitals to be adding residents, who are […]

http://canadianpress.google.com TORONTO — Ontario residents hoping to avoid long waits at hospital emergency rooms could soon find themselves being treated by an unfamiliar type of health-care professional: the physician assistant. Health Minister George Smitherman said Thursday that physician assistants have played a long-standing role in the Canadian Armed Forces and in the United States, and […]

Judd Gregg http://www.eagletribune.com With the closing of the Weeks Medical Center maternity ward in Lancaster, N.H., in April, residents of the North Country will be left with only one hospital for prenatal and maternity care throughout the entire 1,830-square-miles of Coos County. Women living in Pittsburg, our northernmost town, will be forced to drive either […]