Malpractice

Physicians Seek To Limit Jury Awards

A group of Oregon physicians filed four ballot measures with the state recently, proposing limits on what juries can award in noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits and on the money attorneys can earn. The group, Oregonians for Quality, Affordable and Reliable Health Care, says the ballot measures filed Thursday would help stabilize and possibly lower the increasing rates of medical malpractice insurance.

Doctor Gets Licence Back For Appeal

A Toronto doctor thrown out of medicine for giving terminally ill cancer patients false hope and charging them tens of thousands of dollars in the process has been permitted to continue practising pending his appeal, but subject to restrictions. A panel of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons revoked Dr. Ravi Devgan's licence to practise medicine on June 30 after finding he "preyed" on cancer patients and over-charged them for treatments.

Tuck Proposes Review Board
For Medical Malpractice Cases

Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck says she wants to create a medical malpractice review board and collect more data on lawsuit claims, awards and settlements. Tuck said during a news conference Monday at Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson that both proposals are part of her effort to make health care more accessible and affordable.

Legislators Sign Pledge
To Enact More Tort Reform

More than two dozen incumbent lawmakers have signed a pledge to vote for more reforms to Mississippi's civil justice system. Mississippians for Economic Progress, a coalition of businesses and medical associations, asked the lawmakers to sign the eight-point pledge during a Tuesday luncheon in Jackson. MFEP was founded in 2001 to stop lawsuit abuse in Mississippi, said executive director Steven P. Browning.

Analysis: Plight Of The
Uninsured Goes Middle Class

WASHINGTON - The jump in the number of Americans without health insurance is not just another bad economic statistic. Health care costs are soaring again, after several years of stability; average premiums rose nearly 14 percent this year, the third year of double-digit increases, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Insurers Won't Say When Rates Will Drop

The message from supporters of Proposition 12 was clear: Doctors would see medical malpractice premiums fall if voters allowed the Legislature to cap jury awards for pain and suffering or disfigurement caused by bad medicine or errors. With the caps — $250,000 each in noneconomic damages from doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities for a total of $750,000 — trial lawyers would lose their incentive to seek “jackpot justice,” supporters said.

Boiling Brew: Politics and Health Insurance Gap

WASHINGTON -- The jump in the number of Americans without health insurance is not just another bad economic statistic. Health care costs are soaring again, after several years of stability; average premiums rose nearly 14 percent this year, the third year of double-digit increases, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Employers are pushing more of the costs onto their workers, raising co-payments and deductibles. At the same time, many Americans saw their health benefits jeopardized by layoffs, which have continued despite the official end of the recession in November 2001.

Court Suspends Lawyer's License

BLOOMINGTON -- The Illinois Supreme Court has suspended a Bloomington attorney's law license for providing false information in two medical malpractice lawsuits. Maurice Barry received a nine-month suspension that had been recommended by the state Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

'Doctors Refused Presence
Of Supervisory Physician'

Three doctors at a Tokyo university hospital arrested on suspicion of medical malpractice resulting in the death of their patient insisted on performing a laparoscopic procedure without the presence of a supervising doctor, in defiance of an instruction from an assistant professor, a source close to police said Saturday. According to the source, Taro Hasegawa, 34, a doctor of urology at Jikei University School of Medicine's Aoto Hospital, suggested at a meeting in late October that a 60-year-old prostate cancer patient of his undergo laparoscopic surgery.

Man Left Bleeding For 2 Hours

The Metropolitan Police Department has found that three doctors arrested Thursday on suspicion of medical malpractice resulting in death let the patient bleed for more than two hours, although general practice is to allow bleeding for no more than 20 minutes, the police said.

Greek Doctors Face Jail After
Conviction Over Briton's Death

Relatives of a British bar manager who died after a fall on the Greek island of Rhodes said they suffered a "rollercoaster of emotions" during a trial which ended yesterday with three doctors convicted of his manslaughter by negligence.

Health Care Commission
Discusses Incident Reporting

Those who know what issues the health care community and its patients are facing presented their views Monday to the Wyoming Health Care Commission at a meeting in Casper. The nine-member commission, a state agency formed by the Legislature and the governor, is charged with conducting a broad-based study of health care issues affecting Wyoming.

Doctors Hope Prop 12 Begins
Trend Toward Better Care

DALLAS -- Now that voters have approved limits on malpractice lawsuit awards, Dr. Carlos De Juana looks forward to greeting his patients with a helpful spirit rather than seeing them as a potential courtroom enemy. De Juana hopes there will be no more need for "overkill" in diagnosis - when every headache demands a CAT scan and common colds prompt an X-ray.

Widow Of Boca Newsman Killed By
Anthrax Sues U.S. For $50 Million

The widow of inhalation anthrax victim Bob Stevens filed lawsuits in state and federal courts Wednesday, alleging that negligence by either the U.S. government or by at least two laboratories that handle the anthrax bacteria may have led to her husband's death. The two lawsuits outline the same arguments: that either the federal government or the labs allowed someone to get a sample of Bacillus anthracis that was later mailed to American Media Inc. in Boca Raton in the letter that Stevens handled.

Jurors Settle Lawsuit Against Doctor

Eight former Rowan County jurors have settled their lawsuit against surgeon Dr. Rudy Busby for an unspecified financial payment and a public apology. In a potentially precedent setting case, the jurors sued Busby after the Salisbury surgeon distributed an angry letter about the verdict the jurors handed down in a malpractice case. In his letter, which was delivered to the mailbox of every doctor with privileges at Rowan Regional Medical Center, Busby noted all the names of the "jurors who have found a doctor guilty" along with their addresses.

3 Doctors Held Over Surgery

Three doctors at a university hospital in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, were arrested Thursday on suspicion of medical malpractice resulting in the death of a 60-year-old prostate cancer patient late last year. Arrested were Jun Madarame, 38, Taro Hasegawa, 34, and Shigetaka Maeda, 32, all of whom work in the urology department of Aoto Hospital operated by Jikei University School of Medicine. The police also are planning to send papers to prosecutors on a 52-year-old assistant professor of the hospital and two anesthesiologists who took part in an operation on the patient. The police has began searching the hospital and other related sites.

Voters Approve 'Proposition 12'

All seven propositions totaling $75 million on the Sept.13 election ballot pertaining to Missouri City's bond proposals were approved by voters. Proposition 12: In the amendments to the state Constitution, the controversial Proposition 12 placing a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits squeaked through with 51 percent of the voters approving it in Fort Bend, while in neighboring Harris County, the proposition was defeated. Though statewide, the proposition was approved by a close margin.

Farmers Insurance To Stop Selling Medical
Malpractice Policies To Pa., 17 Other States

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Farmers Insurance Group said Wednesday that it will stop selling medical malpractice insurance, narrowing an already tight market for physicians in Pennsylvania and 17 other states it served. Farmers Insurance lost more than $100 million last year on malpractice policies, said Michelle Levy, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles-based insurance group. She said the company plans to refocus on its core lines of home, business, auto and life insurance.

Orange County Man Awarded $500,000
In Medical Malpractice Case

A Fredericksburg Circuit Court jury has awarded $500,000 in damages to an Orange County man who had two gauzes left inside his leg after surgery at Mary Washington Hospital. The jury found for Anthony W. Elswick and placed the blame for his injuries on the hospital and one of his surgeons, Dr. James R. Daniel. A second surgeon named in the case, Dr. Harold C. Bautista, was cleared of all responsibility.

Rising Malpractice Insurance Costs Hurting All

Costs of medical malpractice have risen 500 percent in the last five years in many areas of the United States. According to the Government Accounting Office, since the mid-80s, all states have enacted some laws with changes designed to reduce insurers' losses by limiting the number of claims filed, the size of settlements and awards, and the time and costs associated with resolving claims. Other changes are designed to help health care providers by more directly controlling premium rates.

Boston Hospital Faulted In Three More Deaths

It's been three years, but a Pembroke couple is no longer fighting as lonely a battle in their quest to find justice in the death of their young daughter, Taylor McCormack. The state Department of Public Health recently released yet another report highly critical of Children's Hospital in Boston and the hospital's procedures for dealing with emergency cases such as Taylor's. Taylor McCormack died in October of 2000 at the age of 15 months. The toddler was awaiting emergency surgery at Children's Hospital to drain a build-up of fluid causing her brain to swell.

Debate On Jury Awards Continues

The debate in the state Legislation about whether to impose caps on jury awards pits plaintiffs' lawyers against doctors and business groups. A special 10-member House committee has been meeting since August on the issue and plans to write recommendations before the Legislature reconvenes in January. South Carolina First, a coalition of state medical and business groups, supported a bill introduced this year that would cap punitive and noneconomic "pain-and-suffering" damages at $250,000.

Doctors, Lawyers Argue Over Proposition 12

The Texas Legislature passed a bill in May that put a cap of $750,000 in awards set forth by juries in medical malpractice suits. Voters then voted to make it an amendment to the Texas Constitution. The purpose of Proposition 12 is to limit the amount of non-economic awards in malpractice suits in hopes that malpractice insurance will become cheaper and less of a burden for physicians. Once the premiums are lowered, it is speculated that general medical fees will decrease and make health care more available to Texas residents.

Quality Of Healthcare At Risk, Doctors Say

JEFFERSON CITY - Family practitioner Julie Wood considers herself one of the unfortunate casualties of a raging political debate in Missouri's Statehouse concerning medical malpractice insurance. Wood had practiced medicine in Macon, located in rural northeast Missouri. Wood said her practice was the only one left in Macon that delivered babies for a large Medicaid indigent population. But Wood no longer works in Macon. She's left for Kansas City. And the family practitioner says the reason is the cost of her insurance. "I saw my premium of $19,000 shoot up to $71,000 in less than three years," Wood said. "I didn't stick around to find out what would happen next."

Health Care Commission Discusses Incident Reporting

Those who know what issues the health care community and its patients are facing presented their views Monday to the Wyoming Health Care Commission at a meeting in Casper. The nine-member commission, a state agency formed by the Legislature and the governor, is charged with conducting a broad-based study of health care issues affecting Wyoming.

Missouri Patient Safety Commission Named

Executives from the St. Louis health-care community are among those named to the 17-member Missouri Commission on Patient Safety announced Monday by Missouri Gov. Bob Holden. The commission was created to improve the quality of health care and further reduce the number of medical malpractice claims in the state, the announcement stated.

Feds Settle Malpractice Suit For $3.5 Million

SAN ANTONIO - The federal government will settle a medical malpractice lawsuit against Brooke Army Medical Center for $3.5 million, if approved at a November hearing by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia. In May, a federal jury in Bexar County ruled that decisions and miscommunication among medical staff at Brooke Army Medical Center and Northeast Methodist Hospital would cost the providers and a doctor about $16.6 million. The jury returned the verdict for Rebecca Bowman and her family, finding the hospitals and Dr. Rene B. Lopez liable for events that led to Bowman's incapacitation.

Bush Uses Radio Time To Push For Legal Changes

WASHINGTON - President Bush renewed his campaign against what he considers abuses of the legal system Saturday, returning to a longtime interest that remained mostly sidelined during the first two years of his presidency. In his weekly radio address, Bush pushed for Congress to limit damage awards in medical malpractice cases, arguing that lawsuits are sending malpractice insurance costs soaring so that shortages of doctors are occurring in many places.

Doctors Halt Talks On Medical Malpractice Deal

Medical groups have broken off negotiations on potential legislation intended to curb the rising costs of medical malpractice insurance by restricting liability lawsuits. The Missouri Hospital Association and the Missouri State Medical Association have sent letters to Gov. Bob Holden claiming that talks with the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, or MATA, have been unsuccessful and that the legal group's latest offer was unacceptable.

Insurance Costs Squeezing Some Firms

Snow Communications Inc. doesn't do as much investor-relations work as it used to. In many cases, former clients have taken the work in-house. Others -- primarily technology companies -- went out of business. Despite the decline, CEO Joshua Schneck never considered axing the practice, until now. That's because insurance premiums on professional-liability are rising rapidly. Most investor-relations practitioners don't want to go without that coverage, but Schneck is finding it tough to justify for a company that gets most of its revenue from other services.

Dewhurst Pledges To Keep Tabs
On Insurance After Prop. 12

AUSTIN -- Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst says state policy makers will be watching the progress of Prop 12 very closely. Dewhurst Saturday attended a conference sponsored by the Texas Medical Association. He says he wants to ensure that insurance rates begin decreasing so that doctors can afford to practice medicine.

Analysis: Plight Of The
Uninsured Goes Middle Class

WASHINGTON - The jump in the number of Americans without health insurance is not just another bad economic statistic. Health care costs are soaring again, after several years of stability; average premiums rose nearly 14 percent this year, the third year of double-digit increases, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Bill Calls For Quick Investigation On
Doctors Who Have Lost Malpractice Cases

A Bergen County assemblywoman wants to rid New Jersey of its worst physicians by requiring the state Board of Medical Examiners to conduct quicker malpractice investigations. Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat, announced legislation Thursday that gives the board 30 days to investigate doctors who have lost malpractice cases.

New Jersey Doctors Ratchet
Up Tort Reform Campaign

TRENTON, N.J. -- New Jersey doctors are escalating their campaign to force politicians to put a cap on malpractice pain-and-suffering damages, targeting Democrats opposed to their "cure" for rising malpractice premiums, including trying to oust Gov. James E. McGreevey.

Lawmakers Pressured To
Address Malpractice Issue

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A week after Gov. John G. Rowland called for caps on certain medical malpractice awards, a patients' rights group urged state legislators Thursday to instead focus on medical negligence. Jean Rexford, director of Connecticut Patients Rights, said too much emphasis has been placed on alleviating the rising cost of doctors' medical malpractice insurance and not enough on addressing the costs to people injured by physicians. The group supports legislation requiring hospitals and doctors to submit standardized reports of medical mishaps to the Department of Public Health.

Playing Politics With Malpractice

While the school funding crisis rages in Harrisburg, a lot of other issues demand attention, too. Take medical malpractice. The most recent hearing was over a proposal to put a $250,000 limit on “pain and suffering” awards in malpractice lawsuits. It’s alleged that this is a big reason why medical malpractice insurance premiums are skyrocketing and doctors are contemplating leaving Pennsylvania or not starting their practices here.

Bar Association Focuses On
Tort Reform, Judge Races

Tort reform and good judges are prominent on the Ohio State Bar Association's agenda for next year. The association briefed reporters on its strategy for the new legislative session at a meeting Tuesday at the Statehouse. Topping the association's docket for 2004 is Senate Bill 80, an omnibus tort reform bill before the Ohio legislature that the association largely opposes.

State Senate Approves Malpractice Proposal

The state Senate approved a proposal this morning that supporters say will punish frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits while rewarding valid ones. The Senate voted 27-19 for the bill and then adjourned. But advocacy groups for doctors, hospitals and businesses oppose the bill, partly because it doesn't include a limit on jury awards for pain and suffering in malpractice suits.

Limits Urged On Medical Lawsuits

HARRISBURG -- Groups representing Pennsylvania doctors and insurers urged legislators yesterday to put a $250,000 limit on noneconomic "pain and suffering" in medical malpractice lawsuits. But groups representing lawyers and victims strongly opposed such a cap, saying incompetent doctors who cause their patients serious physical and mental suffering should have to adequately compensate their victims for the pain and disfigurement they suffer.

Texas Voters OK Lawsuit Limits

Proposition 12, the constitutional amendment that caps medical malpractice awards in Texas but may lead to broader limits on all civil lawsuits, won approval by a slim margin Saturday night. The fight over Proposition 12 drew national attention and pitted doctors against lawyers, insurance industry leaders against consumer groups, nursing home administrators against champions for the elderly.