The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota conditionally granted a motion for a new trial last month on the issue of noneconomic damages in the case Thapa v. St. Cloud Orthopedic Associates. The plaintiff has until November 28 to file a letter stating whether he will agree to remit the jury’s award of […]

The Connecticut Supreme Court recently determined that the executive order by Gov. Ned Lamont granting medical professionals and healthcare facilities immunity from any medical malpractice actions related to care delivered during the state’s COVID-19 response did not apply in two medical malpractice cases. The first case, Mills v. Hartford HealthCare, involved the alleged wrongful death […]

side note: Our view on the healthcare system is that care provided by doctors is typically better when the doctor is affiliated with a private practice….rather than with a hospital system. How do we get back to this world of better care? A new Policy Research Perspective from the American Medical Association (AMA) indicates the […]

In spite of posting better underwriting outcomes and another year of favorable net income, AM Best has decided to retain its negative outlook for the medical professional liability (MPL or Medical Malpractice Insurance) sector this year. The ratings agency justified this outlook based on the segment’s unfavorable returns and an overall reduction in policyholder surplus, […]

According to a recent decision by the Louisiana Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, medical review panels tasked with assessing the viability of medical liability cases cannot take into account whether a healthcare provider is immune from a claim under the state’s COVID-19 public health emergency declaration. The court found that statutory immunity can […]

The American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF) issued its 2022/2023 Judicial Hellholes report last month. The annual release documents abuses of the civil justice system in jurisdictions the pro-tort reform group says are among the most unfair and out of balance in the nation. The ATRF is a branch of the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA), […]

The medical professional liability insurance industry experienced double-digit premium growth in 2021, driven by firmer pricing and a return to pre-pandemic levels of healthcare utilization, but those gains waned last year, according to a new report published by the Medical Professional Liability (MPL) Association. The report examines direct premiums written for physicians and hospitals as […]

New research from the Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI), a nonprofit physician advocacy organization, in conjunction with the healthcare consultancy Avalere Health, indicates almost three quarters (73.9%) of all U.S. physicians were employed by a hospital, health system or other corporate entity as of Jan. 1, 2022,  up from 69% at the same point last year. […]

A growing number of state medical boards have been pushing back against the minority of healthcare professionals spreading dangerous COVID-19 disinformation and prescribing unproven coronavirus treatments. They are increasingly meeting resistance from conservative lawmakers. “Physicians who generate and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension […]