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 New Jersey publication NJ Spotlight discusses recent intensified calls by advocate groups for reform to the state medical malpractice system.  Groups representing interests in medicine, law, business, and nursing have ramped up their efforts in support of tort reform legislation as a response to the growing shortage of physicians in […]

Side note: In an effort to lower the cost of medical malpractice insurance in Connecticut lawmakers have imposed mandatory mediation in all medical malpractice cases. According to the new law all medical malpractice cases must undergo a 120 day period of mediation. After the period of mediation expires, if the two sides cannot come upon […]

Side Note: This article reports on newly released data from the AMA.  The AMA’s survey collected a variety of information on malpractice cases  from a large number of physicians.  The results showed that a sizable majority of physicians over 55 have been sued, and that a majority of doctors will probably be sued in their […]

side note: Once again a state faces a critical choice in keeping high-risk specialties within it’s borders. Nevada faces a crucial test over the law that limits non-economic damages in medical malpractice suits to $350,000. Most physicians, and Cunningham Group, argue that this has allowed physicians from most specialties to remain in the state b/c […]

side note: The U.S. Index of Health Ownership, published by PRI, will not be updated in full for 2010, but there is a 2010 U.S. Tort Liability Index. The Tort Index includes 42 variables divided into inputs and outputs. The top states in inputs are Oklahoma, Texas, and Ohio. Top in outputs are Alaska, Hawaii, […]

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: A new study could shed light on the role of paid expert witnesses in medical malpractice lawsuits. The study tested a group of 31 radiologists to see if they came to the same conclusion on a CT scan as four paid expert witnesses. Not one of the 31 doctors were able to see […]

Side Note: this article highlights the results of a study that examined expert witnesses in medical malpractice cases.  The researchers found that an expert witness in a lawsuit against a radiologist testified that the original doctor should have recognized a fracture in a CT scan, but 31 out of 31 other radiologists who examined the […]