Malpractice

Hospitals Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

That spoonful of warning can be gleaned from the American Medical Association (AMA) report, which further gives us these alarming (read: scary) findings. A common ground for malpractice litigation (in the US as well as Canada) is medication error. Of the 40 hospitals surveyed, some hair-raising (and life-threatening) 3,427 mistakes were unearthed. In 90,000 malpractice claims over a period of seven years, medication error is the second most prevalent and second most expensive.

Malpractice Insurance Fight Heats Up

Some trauma services at Independence Regional Health Center's emergency room could end this month, leaving eastern Jackson County without a hospital designated to treat life-threatening head injuries. Independence Regional's only neurosurgeon — faced with medical malpractice insurance premiums he says he no longer can afford — plans to leave Independence after his current insurance policy expires Oct. 31. Neurosurgery is an essential service for a hospital trauma center.

Shire Receives FDA Letter on ADHD Drug

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc announced that it has received an 'approvable' letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ADDERALL XR(R) once daily treatment for adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The Supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA), which was submitted to the FDA on 18 December 2002, included a comprehensive clinical programme in adult patients. The adult market is roughly twice the size of the pediatric market(2). Approximately 66%(2) of children with ADHD will continue to suffer from the disease throughout their adult life.

Workplace Feels Health-Coverage Ills

Nicole Franklin expected her organization's employee health insurance would cost more this year. But nothing prepared the Bellevue finance director for the numbers that screamed from the page. A 56 percent increase in two years. Worse, the premiums for workers on the family plan had doubled, from $437 a month to $860. "We thought, 'Holy cow, what are we going to do here?'"

Physicians and Lawyers at Odds Over Malpractice

DALLAS -- Texas doctors hope last month's narrow passage of Proposition 12, a law that gives the state legislature authority to cap noneconomic damages, will make it easier and more economical for them to practice medicine. The Association of Trial Lawyers in America, however, says laws capping medical malpractice claims may only benefit insurance companies without driving insurance costs down. And, they say, limiting damages only punishes the most severely injured.

Insurance Company Gave Over
$35,000 In Governor Race

Much of the money that fueled this year's recall election didn't come from Napa, but a local medical insurance company contributed a hefty share. The Doctor's Company, a medical malpractice insurance provider based located near the Napa airport, contributed more than $35,000 to Gov. Gray Davis' campaign.

Contributions Still Flowing
Into Politicians' Coffers

Albany - As state lawmakers began devising a plan this year to negotiate lower drug prices for New York's Medicaid program, the Swiss-based pharmaceutical conglomerate Novartis showed an increased interest in the political health of Albany politicians. By the year's midpoint, Novartis had donated $47,125, more than double its average giving rate for the previous three years. Its gifts to legislative leaders betrayed no partisanship: The company sent $7,500 to the Assembly Democrat leadership and $5,000 to the Senate GOP leadership.

Doctor Suspended Amid Drug
Claims at Univ. of Washington

SEATTLE -- A former doctor for the University of Washington football team was suspended from practicing medicine Friday over allegations he improperly provided prescription drugs to a softball player, a school trainer and a U.S. Olympic softball team trainer. The Medical Quality Assurance Commission and the state Department of Health ordered Dr. William Scheyer to stop practicing as a physician and writing medical prescriptions, pending an administrative hearing. He also was accused of accepting steroid prescriptions for his own use.

Hospitals Try to Avoid Budget Cuts

Girding for a painful round of state budget reductions, the Georgia Hospital Association is trying to turn the sharp side of fiscal cuts in another direction. Being discussed internally by GHA officials is a controversial bed tax proposal that would funnel federal matching dollars into hospitals with a disproportionate charity care load. Under the proposal, hospitals would pay into a fund according to the number of beds per facility. The dollars would then be used to draw down a federal match.

State's Malpractice Fund Faces $128M Shortfall

The state-run insurance fund that provides extra coverage for doctors to pay medical malpractice claims has only $65 million in the till. And the fund, known as MCARE, must pay claims of more than $376 million by Dec. 31. An Insurance Department spokeswoman said MCARE figures to collect about $184 million from bills that were sent to docs on Sept. 15. The money, which is actually collected by insurance carriers, is supposed to be transmitted to MCARE by Nov. 17.

The Willis Commentary: Medical Malpractice Insurance

NEW YORK -- The malpractice insurance problem continues to dramatically impact healthcare providers. Affordability and availability of healthcare professional liability coverage is a serious issue for all buyers, whether they are institutional, individual providers, or health plans. Premiums have skyrocketed as claims severity continues to rise. Soaring numbers of large malpractice verdicts and settlements are the cause. In July of this year, the U.S. General Accounting Office issued a report finding that "...increased losses appeared to be the greatest contributor to increased premium rates..."

Malpractice-Insurance Debate
Will Not Bring Easy Answers

Though doctors and medical groups across the nation have looked to tort reform to lessen the cost of malpractice insurance, one quick-fix solution is not possible. The issue pits the needs of injured individuals against the health-care professions' needs and against society's needs. A tight vote in the U.S. Senate on malpractice caps in July highlights the divisiveness of the issue. The vote, which needed a three-fifths majority, was 49-48 with three abstaining.

Parents of Woman in Life or Death
Legal Battle say Hope Remains

In 1990, Terri Schiavo collapsed when a potassium imbalance caused her heart to stop beating. The lack of oxygen led to severe brain damage. George Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo said initially, the Schindlers and Schiavo agreed on her care and both hoped she could be rehabilitated. In 1993, the Schiavos were awarded more than $1 million in medical malpractice claims against the doctors who failed to diagnose her chemical imbalance. Michael Schiavo told a jury he intended to take care of his wife for the rest of her life.

Feds Seek Way to Stop Counterfeit Drugs

WASHINGTON - With Americans increasingly seeking less costly prescription drugs, often from other countries, federal regulators are turning their attention to stopping potentially dangerous counterfeit products. Organized crime is being attracted to prescription drug sales because money can be made there, FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan has said. For traffickers in illegal drugs, faking legal ones can be an easy sideline.

Jury Sides With Family In Lawsuit

It was during a chance meeting with a personal injury lawyer from the Elk & Elk Co. law firm that Butler learned that such births are not normal. Her lawsuit was filed originally in 1997 and thrown out by a judge. An appeals court reinstated the case, and the lawsuit was refiled earlier this year. Normally, medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within two years. Butler's case was able to go to trial because the alleged negligent acts were not discovered for years after the child's birth.

Jury Awards Should Be High Sometimes

There is no price that can be placed on the value of a life. Will $1.5 million end the suffering of two young girls who have lost their mother? Can $25 million return a young boy to the straight-A student he was before a mistake left him permanently brain damaged? Of course they can’t. But large jury awards can send a “loud message,” as one lawyer said last week.

Doctor Faces Libel Suit From Former Firm

STUART -- A controversial physicians group headed by a Stuart doctor facing 23 counts of health-care fraud filed suit Tuesday accusing a former doctor employed by the firm of making libelous statements in a wrongful termination suit he filed two weeks ago. The countersuit was in response to a suit filed Oct. 1 by Dr. David Pinzler claiming he was fired Aug. 30 by Monterey Medical Health Services Inc. based on an employment contract that violates state and federal laws.

A Right-to-Die Battle Enters Its Final Days

PINELLAS PARK -- Ever since Terri Schiavo's heart temporarily stopped beating one winter night in 1990, leaving her severely brain damaged, she has been a woman without a voice. Mrs. Schiavo, now 39, can open her eyes and moan, her mouth sometimes forming a smile or grimace. She breathes on her own, but is fed through a gastric tube. Since she cannot speak for herself, those close to her — along with thousands of strangers who never heard of Mrs. Schiavo before her misfortune — have spoken and often shouted on her behalf.

Program Aims To Lure Doctors

In hopes of encouraging more doctors to set up practice in Henderson, Methodist Hospital has launched a formal osteopathic physician residency program. "Train them here and maybe keep them here," Dr. John Logan, the hospital's medical director, told Henderson Lions. For decades, rural areas and small cities have suffered a shortage of physicians, with many doctors preferring to remain in large cities near academic hospitals.

Doctors want Watts off Rodriguez case

A group of 20 local doctors sent a letter Tuesday to nine media organizations calling for Judge Sandra Watts to remove herself from a case involving attorney Rene Rodriguez because of comments that her son made in an e-mail. The doctors say that 117th District Judge Watts' son, attorney Mikal Watts, made negative comments about state Rep. Jaime Capelo, D-Corpus Christi, who is involved in a number of lawsuits with Rodriguez related to a 1997 Citgo Refining Corp. explosion.

Legislative Leaders Urged to Hold Special Session on
Prison Crowding but not on Medical Malpractice Caps

Gov. John G. Rowland said Tuesday that he is disappointed the legislature isn't planning to pass a bill to address the medical malpractice insurance problem. Rowland, a Republican, supports a cap on certain jury awards as a way to cut insurance premium costs. Speaker of the House Moira Lyons, D-Stamford, said she still has not seen a proposal that physicians, patients rights advocates, attorneys and health insurance companies agree will lower insurance rates for doctors and protect patients.

Physicians' Rally Will Protest Malpractice Costs

The Missouri Academy of Family Physicians is organizing a rally of Kansas City physicians this weekend to draw attention to the problems caused by the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance. The doctors will gather at 2 p.m. Sunday at 89th Street and State Line Road and march across the state line in a "symbolic leaving of the state."

Insurance to Blame for Rising Cost of Malpractice

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS -- Doctors perennially complain about lawsuits and their connection to the ever-rising cost of medical malpractice insurance. But the president of the Illinois State Bar Association, who recently toured Southern Illinois, said doctors should complain about insurance companies instead of medical malpractice lawyers such as him. Terry Lavin, of Lavin and Nisivaco in Chicago, said increases in malpractice rates can be attributed to losses by insurance companies in the stock market, not to large awards in medical malpractice cases.

Whitfield touts Fletcher's Rx

Republican candidate for governor Ernie Fletcher is "uniquely qualified" to solve Kentucky's health care problems, according to U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield. Whitfield accompanied Fletcher's wife, Glenna, to Henderson Monday to make campaign stops at Methodist Hospital and Marsha's Place. About 30 people turned out at the hospital. Whitfield noted that Fletcher, who is currently a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was appointed about 18 months ago to chair a House subcommittee "to look at ways to reform Medicaid.

Insurance to Blame for Rising Cost of Malpractice

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS -- Doctors perennially complain about lawsuits and their connection to the ever-rising cost of medical malpractice insurance. But the president of the Illinois State Bar Association, who recently toured Southern Illinois, said doctors should complain about insurance companies instead of medical malpractice lawyers such as him. Terry Lavin, of Lavin and Nisivaco in Chicago, said increases in malpractice rates can be attributed to losses by insurance companies in the stock market, not to large awards in medical malpractice cases.

RIMC Doctor To Face 3 Negligence Cases

Two to three cases are to be filed against a medical surgeon of the Region I Medical Center (RIMC) for alleged negligence that led to the death of a teacher last Oct. 4. Retired judge Anecito Madronio Sr., legal counsel of the bereaved family, said that aside from a criminal case for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide, the relatives of the victim would also be filing within this week civil and administrative cases against Dr. George Caguioa.

Doctor Apologizes For Identifying Jurors

A North Carolina general surgeon has apologized for a letter he put in the mailboxes of fellow physicians at Rowan Regional Medical Center in May 1998 that listed the names and addresses of jurors who "found a doctor guilty" at a medical malpractice trial and others of whom he was "leery."

Doctors Fight Malpractice Insurance

LIMA, Peru - Lacking neurosurgical instruments, Dr. Cesar Venero bored holes in a dying patient's skull with a power drill from a hardware store, carefully lifted out the bone with pliers from his car and removed the blood clots. Venero, who practices in a remote Andean city, says he didn't hesitate last July to perform the lifesaving operation, widely heralded for its ingenuity in a country where public hospitals lack basic equipment and medical supplies.

The Horrifying Case of Terri Schiavo

AT 2:00 P.M. on October 15, 2003, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is to be removed, after which she will slowly dehydrate to death. This is to be done at the request of her husband, Michael Schiavo, and at the order of Judge George W. Greer of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, in Clearwater, Florida. If the order is carried out, Terri will die over a period of 10 to 14 days.

$12.7M Awarded To Bronx Teen

A Bronx jury has given a $12.7 million medical malpractice award to a 17-year-old girl who suffered severe brain damage when she was born. The jury of three men and three women deliberated two days before awarding the money to Jennifer Colon, a high school student who has cerebral palsy and impaired motor skills because of her traumatic birth at North Central Bronx Hospital. The lawsuit was filed on the girl's behalf by her mother, Miriam Velez.

Doctor Admits Signing Prozac Letter

A Florida doctor questioned in a lawsuit over an effort to market Prozac by mail admitted supplying her signature to a pharmaceutical company's representative but was surprised it was used to send samples of the antidepressant. "I didn't expect any medication to be mailed to patients," Dr. Lise Lambert said in her deposition, which was filed yesterday and is the first by a doctor in the case. Lambert acknowledged signing papers related to the promotion for an Eli Lilly & Co. sales representative. But she said she was unaware it involved mailing out unsolicited samples. In the widely criticized marketing scheme, hundreds of people in Florida who were using antidepressants last year received a month's supply of a new weekly form of Prozac.

Medical Injuries Wreak Havoc
Beyond Patients' Pain And Suffering

Medical injuries in U.S. hospitals that are largely preventable add up to a substantial burden in terms of unnecessary deaths and additional days spent in the hospital, a study out Wednesday says. A 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine said up to 98,000 Americans die every year from errors that occur in hospitals, doctor's offices, outpatient clinics and elsewhere. The new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, takes a detailed look at the medical mistakes that happen just in hospitals.

State Fears Malpractice Suit Liability

LINCOLN -- State officials are worried that a medical malpractice insurance company might try to get out of paying claims that could arise from a massive hepatitis C outbreak in Fremont. The Department of Insurance has asked a judge to rule that Medical Protective Co. of Fort Wayne, Ind., must defend Dr. Tahir Javed in scores of lawsuits that have been filed against him.

Rodriguez, Canales Wrangle Over Court Venue

Local attorney Rene Rodriguez, state representative Jaime Capelo and their attorneys were back in court Thursday trying to resolve which of two district court judges would hear their case. Lawyers for Rodriguez filed a motion in district court to transfer a case from Judge Sandra Watts' 117th District Court to Judge Rose Vela's 148th District Court. Vela was mentioned in a federal suit against Capelo and Rodriguez as providing lax oversight in a personal injury case stemming from a 1997 explosion at a local refinery owned by Citgo Refining Inc. The lawyer opposing Capelo and Rodriguez, J.A. "Tony" Canales, filed documents opposing the transfer to Vela.

Second Malpractice Trial Ordered

PIERRE, S.D. - An attorney's questionable closing arguments may have unfairly dashed the outcome of a weeklong medical malpractice trial, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday. Ordering a second trial for plaintiff Lucille Schoon of Brookings, the justices said defense attorney Ed Evans of Sioux Falls made several mistakes in closing arguments to Minnehaha County jurors. Evans, who currently is representing U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow on criminal charges related to a fatal traffic accident, defended Dr. Thomas L. Looby and Sioux Valley Clinic against negligence claims made by Schoon. Schoon, 66, complained that Looby botched two surgeries on her in 1996.

DePaolo Not Liable In Malpractice Case

A jury took only 20 minutes Monday to determine that Casper obstetrician Hugh DePaolo, M.D., was not liable for damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The family of Julie Barnish sued DePaolo for his alleged failure to diagnose a tumor that eventually killed her April 12, according to court documents.

New Doctor-Owned Insurance Company Steps Forward to Protect Florida Doctors From Medical Liability

Healthcare Underwriters Group (HUG) of Florida Is Permanent Solution, Offers to Help Doctors Non-Renewed by Commercial Insurers Healthcare Underwriters Group of Florida (HUGFL), a doctor-owned, non-assessable, medical liability insurance company, said today that the company is accepting applications from licensed physicians throughout Florida.

Doctors Call For Lawsuits Caps and Limitations

SAN JUAN -- The legislative bill aimed at creating a Medical Malpractice Law doesn’t pay attention to all aspects related to the controversy, said Oscar Rodriguez, president of the Puerto Rico Medical Association. Rodriguez said in published reports that the bill doesn’t establish statutes of limitations on malpractice lawsuits a person may file against a healthcare provider, nor does it establish a cap on fees for lawyers representing plaintiffs in malpractice suits.

Unaffordable Health Coverage

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The medical malpractice crisis may be over, but there's another insurance problem that's affecting even more people. The rising cost of health insurance is making it difficult on the owners of small and medium sized businesses and their employees. According to the Department of Insurance, the cost of insurance has doubled over the years.

Patient Wins Award After Surgery Mishap

MIAMI - A man whose doctors left a 16-by-28-inch surgical towel in his abdomen after he underwent surgery for an aortic aneurysm was awarded $455,000 in damages Tuesday. William Barlow, 62, developed a blood infection and fever after leaving the Veteran's Administration hospital in December 2000, according to a summary of the case released by the judge. The towel was removed four months later.

Med Complications May Cost $9B Per Year

CHICAGO - Postoperative infections, surgical wounds accidentally opening and other often-preventable complications lead to more than 32,000 U.S. hospital deaths and more than $9 billion in extra costs annually, a report suggests. Researchers from the U.S. government's Agency for Healthcare Research analyzed data on 18 complications sometimes caused by medical errors. They found that such complications contribute to 2.4 million extra days in the hospital each year.

Medical Injuries Wreak Havoc
Beyond Patients' Pain And Suffering

Medical injuries in U.S. hospitals that are largely preventable add up to a substantial burden in terms of unnecessary deaths and additional days spent in the hospital, a study out Wednesday says. More than 32,000 Americans each year die as a result of such errors, the study says.

Doctors Begin Political Campaign
For Medical Malpractice Reform

TRENTON, N.J. -- Physicians began a statewide political action campaign Tuesday aimed at electing lawmakers who support the doctors' stance on medical malpractice insurance reform. Operation House Call was organized by the Medical Society of New Jersey and involved doctors going door to door and others speaking to groups of people in five legislative districts statewide where the organization said Democrats are vulnerable in the November election.

Doctors Losing Lawsuit Insurance

More than 400 Florida doctors will lose their medical malpractice insurance next year despite the law passed by the Legislature this summer. The problem is one of timing, according to GE Medical Protective, which notified the physicians this week that their policies would not be renewed in January. The insurer can’t tell doctors what their rates will be until the state calculates the impact of the law changes, company spokesman John Novaria said. And the state estimates won’t be ready until mid-November.

Trial Yet To Come, But IRS Demands Its Share

WASHINGTON - The IRS wants to reach into a Boston banker's grave to collect $1.9 million it claims he owes. Even though the malpractice case isn't expected to go to trial until next year, the IRS demanded John J. Ryan's estate pay the $1.9 million in additional 2000 estate taxes, penalties and interest - presuming that Ryan's estate would receive $4 million from the case. Ryan's estate has asked the U.S. Tax Court to void the IRS demand. Even though the malpractice case isn't expected to go to trial until next year, the IRS demanded Ryan's estate pay the $1.9 million in additional 2000 estate taxes, penalties and interest - presuming that Ryan's estate would receive $4 million from the case. Ryan's estate has asked the U.S. Tax Court to void the IRS demand.

Is Medical Malpractice Academic?

Where your doctor attended medical school predicts the odds that he or she will be sued for malpractice. The connection between the diploma and the deposition isn't immediately evident, the researchers say. But an obvious implication of the work is that quality of early medical training bears on quality of care in practice. "There is a link here," says study leader Teresa Waters, a health economist at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. "Do we understand it? No, but we find one."

Woman Files Malpractice Suit Against
L.A. County-USC Medical Center

LOS ANGELES - A woman filed a malpractice suit against Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center on Monday, claiming her bowel was punctured during a botched operation at the hospital, her attorney said. Nancy Whitaker, of Los Angeles, is seeking damages for past and future medical treatment and loss of earnings, said her attorney, Louanne Masry Weeks, daughter of well-known lawyer Ed Masry.

$170,000 Awarded In Malpractice Trial

An Elkhart jury awarded a woman $170,000 in a medical malpractice suit stemming from a Goshen doctor's removal of the wrong ovary. Michelle Shelly went to Dr. Gayle Borkowski of Fairhaven Physicians Inc. with complaints of excessive menstrual bleeding and severe pain in the area of her right ovary, said Linda Aldridge, one of her lawyers.

Bill Seeks To Halt Rising
Malpractice Insurance Costs

Nursing home directors could be given immunity from prosecution under a new medical malpractice tort reform bill. Patients or family members suing nursing homes would not be able to name the director of the home in lawsuits when he is not responsible for the day-to-day care of the home's residence if legislation passed last month by the N.C. Senate becomes law, said N.C. Sen. A.B. Swinde\ll, D-Nash.

Health Insurance's Growing
Share Of People's Incomes

A new study says health care premiums nationally rose an average 8.6 percent each year since 1999, while workers' wages rose only 3.5 percent annually. But many people don't have any health insurance at all. Last year there were 43.6 million uninsured Americans, or 15.2 percent of the population. In Berrien County the rate of uninsured is even higher, 21.3 percent, according to a 2002 survey.

Liability Insurance Hikes
Scaring Off Some Doctors

Dr. Richard Warburton delivered babies for 40 years before deciding to limit his New Bedford practice to gynecology last year. He was tired of late-night work, but in retrospect, he said, the timing couldn't have been better. Liability insurance premiums have soared in the past five years. Specialties like obstetrics are seeing double-digit increases. Even though Dr. Warburton gave up obstetrics, his liability insurance still went up 20 percent, from $45,000 to $54,000. The premiums for other specialties, like neurosurgery, exceed $100,000.

Hospital Objects To High
Profile Malpractice Lawyer

That’s what defendants in a medical malpractice case involving Lexington Medical Center are ready to tell nationally known superlawyer Geoffrey Fieger of Detroit. He’s representing a widow suing the hospital in what could be a multimillion-dollar case. In the 20 years he has been practicing law, Fieger has won awards of $1 million or more in more than 75 jury cases, according to an Internet Web site put up by his fans. Moreover, the site says, he negotiates $100 million a year in court settlements. Fieger’s official Web site notes he once won $26 million in a medical malpractice case.

Calif. Forces Employers To Provide
Health Insurance To Employees

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill Sunday that adds California to the short list of states that require employers to offer workers health insurance. The bill requires companies with more than 200 employees to offer health benefits to workers and their families by 2006. Employers will pay 80 percent of the premium, with employees paying the other 20 percent. Starting in 2007, companies with 50 to 199 employees will be required to provide employee-only coverage and share costs in the same manner. The measure was opposed by the California Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations, which warned that it would be too costly and threatened job growth.

"Bad Faith" Claims Handling
Leads to Punitive Award

What happens when an insurance company engages in "bad faith" claims practices in California? Well, a good example occurred just recently in the courtroom of The Honorable Vaughn Walker, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California – our local federal trial court: $921,853 plus costs in compensatory damages for financial injury and emotional distress, and $1 Million in punitive damages for malice, oppression and fraud in dealing with the insured. The Company: Leader Insurance Company, based in Birmingham, Alabama, and a part of the American Financial Group (AFE, NYSE). Leader has a website (www.leaderinsurance.com) which advertises its auto coverage as "High Performance Claims Service." "You'll get quick, responsive local service from people who really care," it claims. Well, let’s look at what happened.

Court Rejects Medicated
Death Row Inmate's Case

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by a death row inmate who argued his constitutional rights had been violated when he was forced to take anti-psychotic drugs that made him mentally competent to be executed. Without any comment, the justices refused to review a federal appeals court ruling that the state does not violate the U.S. Constitution by executing an inmate who has regained mental competency through forced medication that is part of appropriate medical care.

Hospitals Expect Loss To
Total At Least $16.2 Million

HARTFORD, Conn. -- After posting a slim profit in the previous fiscal year, Connecticut's 31 acute-care hospitals ended the 2002-03 year with a collective operating loss of at least $16.2 million. The red ink has hospitals worried. They expect to lose millions of more dollars in the next year as the result of cost-cutting actions taken by the governor and legislature to ease the state's financial crisis, The Hartford Courant reported. The hospitals ended the 2001-02 year with a combined operating profit of $1.8 million.

Connecticut To Charge Medicaid Patients Co-Payments

Starting next month Medicaid patients will be expected to pay $2 per visit, particularly for outpatient services. Doctors and clinics will in turn receive $2 less from the state to cover those visits. But if patients say they do not have the money, doctors cannot refuse service or charge them. That means many of the fees paid to doctors by Medicaid will drop by $2 a visit.

Malpractice Hikes Blamed On Insurers

TRENTON - A former insurance executive yesterday told a special legislative panel that insurers trying to recoup losses caused by bad business decisions are to blame for skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance rates. "This is a crisis created by the medical malpractice insurers because of their own ineptness during the 1990s and the collapse of interest rates during the last few years," said Howard P. Weiss, former senior vice president for MIIX Insurance Co. of Lawrenceville, Mercer County.

Witness Tampering Alleged In
Woman's Medical Negligence Suit

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- As a Wellington woman struggles with her health, her medical malpractice case takes a mysterious turn. Attorneys for the case said someone mailed an apparent threat to a crucial medical expert for the plaintiff. Dr. G.W. Elkund recently received a letter with a return address to Dr. Kathy Schilling, the Director of Radiology at the Women's Center. Inside the envelope, there was a medical magazine article Ecklund viewed as a threat. "What the article says is that doctors who testify against doctors are shameful and should be shunned by other radiologists and doctors," Glassman said.

Insurance Rates High Even After Legislation

If Mississippi is an indicator, Arkansas businesses and physicians won’t see a decrease in liability and malpractice insurance premiums soon despite the passage of the Civil Justice Reform Act this year. Mississippi passed legislation on civil justice reform — also known as tort reform — last year, but insurance rates haven’t fallen, George Dale, Mississippi’s insurance commissioner, said Thursday at the third annual Arkansas Insurance Day at the Little Rock Peabody hotel.

Assembly Committee Holds
Hearing On Medical Malpractice

TRENTON, N.J. -- Assembly Democrats said that insurance companies failed to prove a cap on pain-and-suffering awards in medical malpractice cases is needed during a hearing held Thursday by a special committee investigating the industry. The hearing was held as doctors around the state prepared to take political action next week in an attempt to get relief from high medical malpractice premiums.

New Malpractice Option For Jersey Docs

Physicians in New Jersey soon may be getting an alternative to their medical malpractice insurance companies. The new Washington, D.C.-based insurance company, Physicians Trust, is expected to start doing business in the Garden State by the end of the year, and having 1,000 physicians insured by the end of 2004. "No one will be turned away from applying," said Peter Guzzo, spokesman for Physicians Trust. "That doesn’t mean that everyone will be insured." Physicians Trust will be modeled somewhat after mutual insurance companies of yesteryear. The group will choose doctors from the application pool. The doctors will pay a membership fee to be a part of the group, and will pay insurance premiums to be insured by the group.

Confrence to Discuss Insurance Legislation

Insurance adjusters, underwriters and agents met here in Wichita Falls on Wednesday to talk about the latest legislation to pass in Austin, especially the impact of Proposition 12. Assistant Commissioner of Insurance, David Durden told more than 50 insurance agents that things will be changing in the insurance world.

Hospitals Replace Emergency Staffing Provider

Physicians in the emergency departments at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and Highsmith-Rainey Memorial Hospital began working under new management Wednesday. In September, 4M Emergency Systems Inc. of Ohio told Cape Fear Valley administrators it would stop providing physician staffing services for the hospitals Sept. 30. 4M began staffing the emergency departments at Cape Fear Valley and Highsmith- Rainey in November 2002. Lori Anderson, 4M's chief operating officer, said the company canceled its contract with the Cape Fear Valley Health System because the cost of medical malpractice insurance premiums in the state has increased.

Gov. Bush Wants Full Disclosure of
Unlimited Political Contributions

Gov. Jeb Bush said donors to special funds set up by lawmakers to further their legislative ambitions should be identified and he wants to work with legislative leaders to require "total transparency." Nearly $3 million has been funneled to special funds set up by more than two dozen state lawmakers, most of whom are campaigning to become House speaker or Senate president. Some have voluntarily disclosed where they got the money, but the source of $1.1 million is secret. Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, received the largest check of $50,000 from the Academy of Trial Lawyers. His committee raised the most of any legislator, taking in more than $600,000.

Congressional Study Refutes
Malpractice Crisis In Florida

WASHINGTON — A recent congressional study shows Florida's medical malpractice crisis is not as prevalent and widespread as reported, and it uses Collier and Lee counties' neurosurgeons to help prove it. The American Medical Association has dubbed the medical malpractice debate its top concern and labeled Florida one of 19 states facing a crisis because rising insurance rates caused by large jury awards are forcing doctors to leave the state or alter their care. But the General Accounting Office, the investigative wing of Congress, disputes some of the claims the AMA and other medical groups have made. In its study, it examined Florida and four other states the AMA says is facing a medical crisis along with four states the group has not deemed to have an impeding health-care problem connected with medical malpractice insurance rates.

Suit Accuses Law Professor of Sex Harassment

ST. PETERSBURG - The professor invited the third-year law student to the lobby of the Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa on St. Pete Beach last year to interview for a job as a research assistant. Stetson University College of Law professor William McKinley Smiley Jr. didn't talk about job qualifications, a lawsuit says. Instead, the suit says, he asked Michelle Santamaria about her boyfriends. He called her attractive. He asked her to go with him to the Bahamas for a legal seminar. Smiley finally offered her the job. But the job, Santamaria alleges, had one requirement: sex.

Texas Tort Reform Vote
Signals Lower Liability Rates

Passage of a Texas medical malpractice ballot initiative appears likely to produce the impact physicians desired -- a decrease in liability premiums. And doctor groups hope that the measure's success will spur similar action in other states. The measure amends the Texas Constitution to allow caps on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits. Within days of the vote, some insurers announced plans to reduce liability insurance rates.

Doctor to Celebrities Pleads No Contest

LOS ANGELES - A doctor who allegedly catered to the prescription drug demands of celebrities including actress Winona Ryder (news) pleaded no-contest Monday to charges of grand theft and practicing medicine without a license. Jules Lusman, whose license was revoked last year, entered the plea to two charges in exchange for the dismissal of six others by prosecutors, said his attorney, Kendric Rollins.

Valley's Newest Hospital To Open

The $70 million Spring Valley Hospital is scheduled to open Wednesday in the southwest Las Vegas Valley, marking another chapter in the region's explosive growth story. Valley Health System, a subsidiary of Universal Health Services of King of Prussia, Pa., built the more than 280,000-square-foot hospital at 5400 S. Rainbow Blvd. Spring Valley will offer 176 private rooms and the region's third largest emergency room with 47 bays to accommodate a rapidly growing population in the southwest.

Consumers Are Signing Away Their Right To Sue

It is a tough choice: Give up your legal rights -- or forget about joining a gym, getting a cellphone or even seeing your doctor. In an effort to fend off lawsuits, a growing number of companies,including Comcast Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., are asking consumers to agree to ``mandatory arbitration'' and waive their right to sue the company if a dispute arises. These binding arbitration clauses have been standard in credit-card and stock brokerage contracts for years, but they are now migrating into the fine print of everyday consumer services, including cable TV, cellphones, online retailers, gyms, auto financing firms, travel agencies and summer camps.