Side note: We all know that careless and reckless drivers pay astronomical rates for car insurance, if they can get coverage at all. Yet many people fail to realize that the same circumstances apply to doctors. Take the case of Dr. David Giem who recently testified to congress that his medical malpractice insurance rates had […]

side note: Even while in police custody, the infamous fugitive Dr. Mark Weinberger is managing to bring harm to the citizens of Indiana. Experts fear that the 357 medical malpractice lawsuits that face Weinberger could end up costing the Indiana state medical malpractice fund over 90 million dollars. The depletion of the Indiana state fund […]

side note: The unpopular reversal of the Illinois medical malpractice reform law has become a hot topic in the upcoming, Nov. 2, Supreme Court retention elections. The Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch has parked a billboard truck in front Kankakee County Courthouse proclaiming the slogan “Good Judges Matter.” This display of dissatisfaction about the courts recent […]

Side note: Must be an election year! One of the biggest races shaping up this year is the Senatorial seat currently being held by the powerful Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. His primary challenger, Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate, wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Candidate Angle believes that heath care can be made […]

side note: This doesn’t pass the sniff test. The Louisiana state legislature recently passed a law that forbids access to the state’s excess liability medical malpractice insurance fund to doctors that perform abortions. Of course, those doctors still must pay into the fund, but cannot access it because those doctors choose to perform a specific, […]

Side Note: this article from the Wall Street Journal blog reports on new challenges to caps on non-economic damages in Nevada malpractice cases.  Opponents of tort reform are arguing that the cap is per claim, not per event, a murky point in the law.  This development is cause for concern, as Nevada has had problems […]

Side Note: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has found that the state must repay $200M that it took out of the state patient compensation fund for malpractice.  This is a victory for the Wisconsin Medical Association, and for health care consumers in Wisconsin.  A solvent patient compensation fund keeps medical malpractice insurance premiums stable, and in […]

Side Note: This article from the Associated Press describes one New York judge’s unique approach to the problems of the U.S. malpractice system.  Judge McKeon call his approach “judge-directed negotiations”, and focuses on humanizing malpractice cases and patiently working with all parties to reach a fair resolution.  The New York City court system has received a grant of […]

Side note: A bill is being sponsored in New Jersey to help bring that state’s medical malpractice system under control. Hopefully, the bill would also help to reverse the increasingly problematic doctor-to-patient ratio in the state. According to the bill’s sponsor, the current gap between doctors and patients is 12%, and 60% of doctors trained […]