Medical Malpractice News and Research

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The long-term view: GOP hopes for scaled-back health plan; Dems see health care second-chance

News outlets report on the big-picture health policy goals of both parties. Republicans see the repeal effort as stretching far beyond today's House vote while the stretch of time may help Democrats.

20 Jan 2011

Roundup: Arizona Medicaid waiver?; 'Sweeping' Texas budget cuts; Wisconsin tort reform; Aspen's 'dismal' health coverage

The Legislature will meet in special session today to give Gov. Jan Brewer authority to seek a Medicaid waiver from the federal government, the first step to cutting health care for 280,000 Arizonans. Brewer and Republican lawmakers say the move is needed to balance the state budget and keep the rest of the state's Medicaid program intact.

20 Jan 2011

Poll shows opposition to health law softening; GOP and Dems gird for repeal vote

Ahead of a vote on repeal in the GOP-led House this week, strong opposition to the law stands at 30 percent, close to the lowest level registered in AP-GfK surveys dating to September 2009. ... The law expands coverage to more than 30 million uninsured, and would require, for the first time, that most people in the United States carry health insurance.

18 Jan 2011

Reuters: Surgical checklists reduce medical errors — and could cut malpractice claims

Surgical checklists not only save lives by preventing medical errors, they could also make a big dent in medical malpractice claims, according to a study in the Netherlands.

14 Jan 2011

Jury returns $7M verdict for failure to diagnose and treat cardiac tamponade in bypass surgery patient

A New York State Supreme Court Queens County jury returned a $7,000,000.00 verdict against Patrick Monteleone M.D. and Newell Robinson, M.D. where they failed to diagnose and treat cardiac tamponade (bleeding into the chest) in their patient who underwent cardiac bypass surgery on November 17, 2004.

23 Dec 2010

PRI receives CLO Gold award for online physician communication course

Physicians' Reciprocal Insurers, the second largest medical malpractice insurer in New York state, today announced that its physician communication course "Tuning In: Communication Skills for Partnering with Patients" has been honored as the winner of the 2010 Chief Learning Officer Gold Award in the "Excellence in E-Learning" category.

20 Dec 2010

Medisafe 1 to launch syringe locking device in Jerusalem hospital

Medisafe 1 Technologies Corp., a developer of patented technologies that physically prevent unauthorized administration of prescription medications, announced today that the company has engaged in preliminary discussions to launch a pilot of its syringe locking device, with a major hospital in Jerusalem.

30 Nov 2010

Policy of routine error disclosure may minimize impact of medical errors

People who believe their doctor or hospital would inform them if a medical error occurred are "far more forgiving" than those who doubt their health care provider would disclose the error, reports a study in the November issue of Medical Care.

24 Nov 2010

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan faces new lawsuits, GOP in Florida looks to malpractice reform to help draw doctors to Medicaid program

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is facing a wave of lawsuits across the state accusing the insurance giant of pocketing millions of dollars in hidden fees from local governments and others to administer their health care plans.

23 Nov 2010

The conservative way forward on health care

The landslide Republican victory, in taking the House and electing some strong conservatives to the Senate, can be interpreted as a mandate to rein in government spending, and specifically to repeal ObamaCare, as these issues were clearly behind the large turnout. There is still a very real possibility the Supreme Court will find the “individual mandate” to buy private insurance unconstitutional. If this provision is thrown out, it’s hard to see how the law survives, since the mandate is needed to finance it.

22 Nov 2010

Research roundup: Health IT and malpractice; Wide variation in hospital rates; Income and insurance offerings

New England Journal of Medicine: Medical Malpractice Liability In The Age Of Electronic Health Records - "Providers can expect a varied and shifting landscape of medical liability risks and benefits as the adoption of [electronic health records] EHRs unfolds," write the authors who explore the ways EHRs may bring about long-term changes in standard of care and affect the course of malpractice litigation.

22 Nov 2010

Novartis gender discrimination case settlement final hearing on November 19

The final hearing for approval of the class settlement in the long-running class action gender discrimination case brought by female sales representatives at Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation is set for Friday, November 19th at 10 a.m. in the courtroom of Judge Colleen McMahon of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.

20 Nov 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Congress needs conservative leadership; reviving tort reform; can states afford to drop Medicaid?

Nothing has gone quite so awry as the massive, government-run Obama health program, and it is plain that the individual mandate, the employee mandate, the abortion funding, the tangle of outsider/insider councils like the comparative effectiveness board and the effective nationalization of healthcare under grants of authority to the Department of Health and Human Services.

16 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 12, 2010

Today's headlines include examinations of Medicaid and state budget issues as well as the next round of the congressional health overhaul fight.

12 Nov 2010

Republicans' committee plans take shape amid health reform questions

The Hill: "House Ways and Means Chairman-to-be Dave Camp (R-Mich.) is making his case for repealing and replacing the healthcare overhaul, touting his own version of a bill that he says would reduce premiums." Camp made his case in a USA Today editorial and says the GOP plan would reduce premiums by up to 10 percent. Camp says his plan would reform medical malpractice lawsuits, allow Americans to buy health insurance across state lines, and gives "states the flexibility to make changes that best meet the needs of their residents."

10 Nov 2010

Industry experts speculate, strategize on what election means for business and reform

The Wall Street Journal: "Health-care companies see the Republican win as a chance to chip away at aspects of Mr. Obama's health overhaul least favorable to the industry. Insurance companies, drug manufacturers and hospitals say they will press to peel away the law's new taxes on health-care companies, pass tougher medical malpractice curbs and knock down a new board that recommends Medicare spending cuts" (Adamy, 11/3).

8 Nov 2010

Republicans look to use majority for health overhaul repeal, plan vote

Now in control of the House of Representatives, Republicans are planning to flex their muscles quickly to try to repeal the Democratic health law but even some GOP leaders acknowledge it is likely they can get rid of the law right away.

4 Nov 2010

Decisions on health law's fate start today as GOP seems poised for gains

Expected Republican wins in Congress and in statehouses throughout the country Tuesday would likely slow down implementation of the law and make the debate even more contentious but not outright stop the law.

3 Nov 2010

Dr Sartori’s contentious alternative therapy: inquest date set

The Medical Practitioner's Board of Western Australia is looking into the case of a doctor and her role in an alternative cancer therapy program. Five cancer patients have died after apparently being given industrial solvents and dangerous minerals as a part of an alternative therapy program by Alexandra Boyd, a well-known Mosman Park breast cancer specialist. She along with two registered nurses administered the concoctions to the people in question.

1 Nov 2010

Candidates on health care offense, defense in final week before election

Candidates are in full campaign mode ahead of midterm elections that will likely spell out how the health law is implemented. The New York Times reports that some Democrats are playing defense after voting for health reform. They include Virginia Rep. Tom Perriello who is running against Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt.

28 Oct 2010