Medical Malpractice News and Research

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Public appalled as doctor de-registered in 2004 is accused of mutilating women

As more and more complaints continue to appear regarding the behaviour of a Sydney doctor many are appalled that he continued to practice after being struck off the medical register.

25 Feb 2008

Errors by hospital residents often down to poor teamwork, communication

Physicians-in-training are highly vulnerable to making medical errors that stem from teamwork breakdowns, especially a lack of supervision by experienced staff, according to a new study funded by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

22 Oct 2007

Supreme Court declines to consider challenge to New York contraceptive coverage law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will not consider a challenge to a New York law that requires employers who offer prescription drug plans to provide coverage for FDA-approved contraceptives for women, the New York Times reports (Greenhouse, New York Times, 10/2).

2 Oct 2007

Medical standards in 21 states based on local rule, not national standards

Although most patients don't know it, 21 U.S. states follow some form of an 1880 ruling that says the standard of care physicians must meet by law depends on where the doctor practices, even if, in some cases, it is a small town with only two doctors.

20 Jun 2007

Damages caps in medical malpractice cases

Caps on medical malpractice damages mean lower insurance premiums for doctors, according to a new review from two Alabama universities.

1 Jun 2007

Simple clinical criteria can eliminate pulmonary embolism risk and expense

Although clots in the lung (pulmonary embolism or PE) are the second-leading cause of sudden death in the United States, blood tests and ultrafast CT scanning to detect PE are being used on so many patients that over 90% of these tests are negative.

17 May 2007

Juries found to sympathize more with doctors in malpractice cases

There's a common belief that juries frequently side with patients in lawsuits involving medical malpractice.

12 Apr 2007

Pennsylvania could save on health care by working with physicians

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's (D) proposal to expand health care coverage in the state "goes further" than plans offered by "most politicians," but it does not "target the underlying causes of high cost," including "unnecessary care, financial paperwork, excess prices and fraud," Alan Sager and Deborah Socolar, directors of the Health Reform Program at Boston University's School of Public Health, write in a Harrisburg Patriot-News opinion piece.

28 Feb 2007

U.S. consumers' health care concerns

USA Today on Monday published three articles addressing U.S. consumers' health care concerns as part of a week-long series titled "Prescription for Change," which examines possible improvements to the U.S. health care system.

16 Oct 2006

Physician errors are a factor in about 60% of medical malpractice claims

Physician errors are a factor in about 60% of medical malpractice claims that involved patients allegedly injured because of missed or delayed diagnoses, according to a study published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

5 Oct 2006

Claims that medicine is rife with malpractice lawsuits 'overblown'

According to new research, contrary to public perception, people who file lawsuits against doctors accusing them of medical mistakes rarely do so frivolously, and those who do submit trivial claims as a rule receive no payout.

11 May 2006

Debate over medical malpractice litigation continues

The Senate is expected to vote soon on legislation to impose a federal cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice suits, following on similar bills that passed the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate last year.

10 May 2006

Malpractice litigation has little to do with erratic quality of health care

Conventional wisdom holds that malpractice lawsuits are the bane of modern medicine, with high insurance premiums driving doctors from the profession and the threat of lawsuits discouraging health-care employees from reporting and correcting medical mistakes.

17 Jul 2005

Texas medical malpractice claims examined

New research published in the latest issue of Journal of Empirical Legal Studies examines Texas medical malpractice claims and finds no tort crisis.

6 Jul 2005

New law will take away vital medications from AIDS sufferers in Mississippi

Medicaid beneficiaries living with HIV/AIDS in Mississippi are about to be denied access to medications they need to stay alive.

1 Jul 2005

Medicaid beneficiaries living with HIV/AIDS in Mississippi are about to be denied access to medications

A law that takes effect tomorrow, July 1, limits Mississippi Medicaid beneficiaries to two brand-name drugs. But controlling HIV infection requires three drugs, and all of them are brand name.

30 Jun 2005

Doctors in the U.S. gravitate to states that cap malpractice awards

According to two studies released this week many doctors are gravitating to states that place caps on malpractice awards, despite the fact that such awards are not the primary cause of skyrocketing insurance premiums.

1 Jun 2005

Tort reform associated with increase in physician supply

States that enacted malpractice reforms had an increase in their overall supply of physicians, according to a study in the June 1 issue of JAMA.

25 May 2005

Lowering health care costs overall seen as top U.S. health priority

The public favors reducing jury awards in malpractice lawsuits and allowing drugs to be imported from Canada, but ranks them relatively low on a list of 12 health care priorities for President Bush and Congress to address this year, according to a new post-election survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.

12 Jan 2005