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Missouri Supreme Court strikes down cap on medical malpractice damages

Missouri's Supreme Court has ruled that a 20-year-old, $350,000 cap on noneconomic medical malpractice damages -- pain and suffering -- takes away a citizen's right to trial by jury and is unconstitutional.

3 Aug 2012

Roundup: Investors not shaken by accretive decision in Minn.; Conn. state abortion coverage conflicts with federal regs

Accretive Health got off pretty easy -- at least according to some on Wall Street. The $2.5 million that the Chicago-based firm must pay Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is "relatively immaterial," wrote analysts from Credit Suisse on Tuesday, July 31, as they sized up the settlement announced between the parties.

2 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Health law no threat to innovation; Failure to expand Medicaid would 'doom' thousands; Don't stigmatize mentally ill

For better or worse, the Democrats incorporated a good deal of mainstream Republican thinking about health care reform from the past decade, including mandated coverage and health insurance exchanges, into the Affordable Care Act. This leaves the GOP, embarrassingly, with little to say about what is wrong with the act.

31 Jul 2012

Roundup: Ore. Gov. suggests malpractice reform; Mass. Gov. proposes new scrutiny for health care providers; Texas has offered HPV vaccine since 2007

The state can cut health care costs and reduce the number of medical-related lawsuits by requiring earlier notification of injuries as well as pretrial mediation, according to a recommendation Gov. John Kitzhaber issued Wednesday. The product of closed-door talks between representatives of interest groups including the Oregon Medical Association and the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, Kitzhaber's recommendation now goes to a work group including lawmakers, a trial lawyer and doctor that begins public meetings next week.

27 Jul 2012

State roundup: Mass. to allow coupons for some branded drugs

Johns Hopkins Hospital lost its coveted spot as the nation's top-ranked hospital for the first time in 22 years, edged out by Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital in the latest analysis by U.S. News & World Report to be released Tuesday. Hopkins still ranked No. 2, and marketing experts said falling one spot will hurt the hospital's ego more than its reputation.

18 Jul 2012

Safety of breast implants

Following the recent scandal, described in May 2012 by the BBC as the “PIP breast implant scandal”, (1) many women may have been put off having breast implants. But how safe exactly is breast enlargement? And how do the different methods compare?

29 May 2012

Research roundup: Electronic health records don't seem to improve diabetes care; Beefing up adult vaccination rates

Federal officials and health policy experts believe that electronic health records (EHRs) will improve patient care. Researchers measured adherence to diabetes care guidelines as well as patient outcomes over three years at 16 practices using EHRs and 26 practices using paper records. Practices with EHRs did not show signs of better care and providers using them "have not made the necessary changes to both work processes and ways of thinking about care that would lead to improvements in chronic illness management."

19 May 2012

APS announces recipients of prestigious achievement awards

The American Pain Society (APS), www.ampainsoc.org, today announced the recipients of its prestigious achievement awards during the organization's annual scientific meeting. APS rewards excellence in pain management with awards for career achievement, pain scholarship, education and public service, advocacy on behalf of children, outstanding service to APS, early career achievements and journalism.

18 May 2012

State legislative news: Mass. legislature poised to consider cost control plan

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, the legislature approves a bill giving collective bargaining rights to home health care workers and goes against leadership to gut a bill that would loosen requirements for suing a health care provider.

5 May 2012

State roundup: Mass. may vote on assisted suicide; Colo. to try medical homes

Heather Clish has become a leading advocate for affording terminally ill patients in Massachusetts the same choice her father had. Clish and other supporters are pushing a ballot initiative to legalize the practice they call Death with Dignity, more commonly known as physician-assisted suicide.

30 Apr 2012

Paper identifies essential practical components of Michigan Model

For just over a decade, the University of Michigan Health System has been a leader in demonstrating a new way to handle patient safety and malpractice concerns. The approach has simultaneously promoted safer care; helped patients, their families and clinical staff deal with unanticipated outcomes in a non-adversarial way; and saved UMHS money at the same time.

30 Apr 2012

Shutdown looms as committees, lawmakers spar over budget, spending cuts

The House Energy and Commerce Commitee, as well as other House panels, worked yesterday on various spending cuts and policy items with an eye on budget reconciliation. The GOP-led effort, which has very little chance of being taken up by the Senate, will likely lead to "a long summer of political skirmishing."

27 Apr 2012

Budget battle frames election campaigns

The budget debate focuses on competing priorities -- spending on defense versus the health law or making chocies between tax cuts for business or safety net programs. Also in the news, spending bills continue to percolate in Congress.

21 Apr 2012

State roundup: Mass. seeks to improve medical malpractice system; Health exchange legislation progresses in Ala.

Seven Massachusetts hospitals plan to offer patients harmed by medical errors a prompt apology and financial settlements before they resort to lawsuits, part of a major new initiative to improve the state's cumbersome medical malpractice system. A coalition of physician, hospital, and patient groups planned to release details Wednesday of the initiative, called "Road Map to Reform,"' which they predict will increase reporting of medical mistakes and cut down on lengthy litigation that drives up health care costs and fuels distrust between caregivers and patients.

19 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Santorum pushed Romney on health care; GOP's 'classic male mistake'; ACOs and the anti-trust challenge

The Pennsylvanian was also by far the most effective Republican critic of RomneyCare. When he stood on stage in a debate and took apart the Massachusetts health law as a prototype for ObamaCare, Mr. Romney realized he couldn't coast to the nomination. That's when the former Massachusetts Governor came out with his own tax cut and tax reform plan to appeal to economic conservatives.

12 Apr 2012

Longer looks: Berwick calls for leaders to rise above 'political catechism'; Convincing the healthy to feel sick

Between July 2010 and December 2011, Dr. Donald Berwick was head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that runs the government's health insurance programs. In a sane world, he would be still. But Senate Republicans refused even to let his confirmation come up for a vote ... A pediatrician by training and a widely respected expert in health care policy, Berwick should have been a lock for the CMS job. But he was a backer of Obamacare; a believer in data and science; a proponent of universal health care.

6 Apr 2012

Woman left unattended burnt in a hospital shower

Deputy State Coroner Anthony Schapel is hearing evidence about the circumstances of Ms Proctor's death on February 22 - a week after she was first admitted. The court heard Ms Proctor was suffering from multiple illnesses including alcoholic liver disease and her mobility was severely restricted by the time she was hospitalized. She required assistance to move.

4 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Ryan's budget called 'cruel' or 'sophisticated'

In February, after embarrassing himself by saying he was "not concerned about the very poor," Mitt Romney explained that the government's safety net would take care of them, and he promised to repair any holes in the net. That promise didn't last very long. On Thursday, House Republicans approved, on a party-line vote, a disastrous new budget that would leave millions of struggling families desperate for food, shelter and health care - and Mr. Romney has embraced it.

31 Mar 2012

State roundup: Georgia's child-only insurance policies; N.Y. exchange impasse

The Senate's Republican majority refused to agree to create a "health exchange," or state-based health insurance market required under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, for individuals and small businesses to insure more Americans.

29 Mar 2012

House approves bill to kill Medicare cost panel

In what is viewed as a largely symbolic move, the GOP-led House passed a bill that would undo the health law's Medicare cost control board. Though the measure initially drew some Democratic support, those votes all but disappeared after the repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board was linked to medical malpractice legislation.

23 Mar 2012