medical malpractice insurance – Overlawyered https://www.overlawyered.com/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Thu, 31 Jul 2014 01:18:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Medical roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2014/08/medical-roundup-24/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2014/08/medical-roundup-24/#comments Fri, 01 Aug 2014 04:05:52 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=46958 Doctor criticized on Science-Based Medicine blog proceeds to sue [Steve Novella, Orac] “Can you imagine Google becoming a health company?” Sergey Brin: doubt it, field’s “just so heavily regulated” [Michael Cannon/Cato, David Shaywitz] “One Box of Sudafed Over the Line: Florida Woman Arrested for Trying to Relieve Allergy Symptoms” [Jacob Sullum] MICRA battle: survey finds […]

Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Doctor criticized on Science-Based Medicine blog proceeds to sue [Steve Novella, Orac]
  • “Can you imagine Google becoming a health company?” Sergey Brin: doubt it, field’s “just so heavily regulated” [Michael Cannon/Cato, David Shaywitz]
  • “One Box of Sudafed Over the Line: Florida Woman Arrested for Trying to Relieve Allergy Symptoms” [Jacob Sullum]
  • MICRA battle: survey finds OB-GYNs in Los Angeles County pay average $49,804 a year for coverage, in Long Island where there’s unlimited liability it’s $196,111 [Legal NewsLine]
  • Medical liability claims fall in Wisconsin [Althouse] And Pennsylvania [TortsProf]
  • FDA wants to look over drugmakers’ shoulders when they communicate with consumers, not an easy formula for social media [Elizabeth Nolan Brown]
  • “The reason that we are being required to measure BMI isn’t because a patient’s BMI has any meaningful clinical use … it’s that the BMI can be measured.” [White Coat]
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    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2014/08/medical-roundup-24/feed/ 2     Medical roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2014/06/medical-roundup-22/ Mon, 09 Jun 2014 04:05:48 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=45632 Alarming: “2,500 Georgia Doctors Lack Malpractice Insurance: Report” [Insurance Journal] Improper FDA contact with trial lawyers behind closed doors? [DDLaw, Ed Silverman, WSJ CorpInt] AFGE fights efforts to refer patients at troubled VA hospitals to civilian specialists [Betsy McCaughey, Investors] Civil service rules entrench bad VA managers [Rep. Jeff Miller, Time mag] Improved understanding of […]

    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Alarming: “2,500 Georgia Doctors Lack Malpractice Insurance: Report” [Insurance Journal]
  • Improper FDA contact with trial lawyers behind closed doors? [DDLaw, Ed Silverman, WSJ CorpInt]
  • AFGE fights efforts to refer patients at troubled VA hospitals to civilian specialists [Betsy McCaughey, Investors] Civil service rules entrench bad VA managers [Rep. Jeff Miller, Time mag]
  • Improved understanding of brain damage in newborns could have litigation implications [New York Times “Well”]
  • Budget measure widens Medicaid program rights to recoup medical outlays by grabbing part of plaintiff tort recoveries [King & Spalding]
  • “Ronald Reagan and AIDS: Correcting the Record” [Carl Cannon]
  • Rating the FDA’s various drug review divisions [Manhattan Institute, The Hill, more]
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    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>         California: trial lawyers qualify initiative to overturn MICRA https://www.overlawyered.com/2014/05/california-trial-lawyers-qualify-initiative-overturn-micra/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2014/05/california-trial-lawyers-qualify-initiative-overturn-micra/#comments Sun, 18 May 2014 13:15:40 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=45905 MICRA, approved by California voters in 1974, limits noneconomic damage payouts in medical malpractice cases and has been the main reason medical liability insurance rates in the state are only in the middle of the pack nationally despite the state’s long-earned reputation as one of the most litigious in general. Focus-group research led trial lawyer […]

    California: trial lawyers qualify initiative to overturn MICRA is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     MICRA, approved by California voters in 1974, limits noneconomic damage payouts in medical malpractice cases and has been the main reason medical liability insurance rates in the state are only in the middle of the pack nationally despite the state’s long-earned reputation as one of the most litigious in general. Focus-group research led trial lawyer advocates to tack on a provision prescribing drug testing for doctors to improve the measure’s chances [James Hay, San Diego Union-Tribune; Legal NewsLine and more; ABA Journal] Some predict that the impending lawyers-vs.-doctors battle, with various allies brought in on both sides, will be the most expensively fought ballot measure in history. Earlier coverage of MICRA here.

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    California: trial lawyers qualify initiative to overturn MICRA is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2014/05/california-trial-lawyers-qualify-initiative-overturn-micra/feed/ 2     Medical roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/05/medical-roundup-10/ Wed, 15 May 2013 04:05:37 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=37942 Hit by stray bullet, wakes from anesthesia fighting, hospital told to pay $17 million [Georgia; Insurance Journal] Study: physician’s previous paid claims history has no impact on odds of catastrophic med-mal payout [Bixenstine et al, JHQ via PoL] Overall, med-mal payouts have fallen steadily in past decade; $3.6 billion figure last year follows strongly regionalized […]

    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Hit by stray bullet, wakes from anesthesia fighting, hospital told to pay $17 million [Georgia; Insurance Journal]
  • Study: physician’s previous paid claims history has no impact on odds of catastrophic med-mal payout [Bixenstine et al, JHQ via PoL] Overall, med-mal payouts have fallen steadily in past decade; $3.6 billion figure last year follows strongly regionalized pattern with top per capita figures all in Northeast [Diederich analysis of annual payouts via TortsProf] Florida law now requires that testifying medical witness be in same specialty as defendant [Business Week]
  • In lawsuits alleging “wrongful birth,” what’s the measure of damages? [Gerard Magliocca, Concurring Opinions]
  • ObamaCare exchanges in D.C., California and Connecticut declare smoking “pre-existing condition,” say insurers can’t base higher rates on it [Kevin Williamson, NR]
  • “The Crime of Whitening Teeth with Over-the-Counter Products” [Caleb Brown, Bluegrass Institute]
  • How not to die: Jonathan Rauch on end-of-life overtreatment [The Atlantic]
  • “I’m going to start a rumor that Sudafed is an abortifacient. Then the feds will finally have to allow reasonable access to it.” [me on Twitter]
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    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>         “Going naked” in S.F.’s Summer of Love https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/04/going-naked-s-f-s-summer-love/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/04/going-naked-s-f-s-summer-love/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:15:47 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=37787 We refer of course to the practice of dispensing with liability insurance [Sheila Weller, Vanity Fair]: The Diggers broached the idea of a free clinic to two doctors, and Dr. David E. Smith, who had lived in the Haight for years, volunteered. He signed a $300-a-month lease for a suite at Haight and Ashbury, rounded […]

    “Going naked” in S.F.’s Summer of Love is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     We refer of course to the practice of dispensing with liability insurance [Sheila Weller, Vanity Fair]:

    The Diggers broached the idea of a free clinic to two doctors, and Dr. David E. Smith, who had lived in the Haight for years, volunteered. He signed a $300-a-month lease for a suite at Haight and Ashbury, rounded up volunteers who utilized all the samples of penicillin, tranquilizers, and other supplies from the hospitals at which they interned, and started a clinic to treat patients suffering from bad acid trips or venereal disease —- all with no malpractice insurance, “which was totally insane,” says Smith today. On June 7, 1967, the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic opened for business with “a line around the block,” according to Smith.

    More on the free clinic, one of the counterculture’s more celebrated innovations at the time, here and here; more on the practice of dispensing with liability coverage here, here, here, and here.

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    “Going naked” in S.F.’s Summer of Love is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/04/going-naked-s-f-s-summer-love/feed/ 1     Medical roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/04/medical-roundup-9/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/04/medical-roundup-9/#comments Mon, 08 Apr 2013 04:05:43 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=36571 “It Didn’t Feel Like a ‘Win'” [“Birdstrike, M.D.”/White Coat] Federal ban on long shifts by hospital residents may have harmed safety, in part because it drove up number of patient handoffs [USA Today] N.J. bill would narrow chance for suits against first aid, ambulance and rescue squads [NJLRA] Bill in Georgia legislature aims to apply […]

    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • “It Didn’t Feel Like a ‘Win'” [“Birdstrike, M.D.”/White Coat]
  • Federal ban on long shifts by hospital residents may have harmed safety, in part because it drove up number of patient handoffs [USA Today]
  • N.J. bill would narrow chance for suits against first aid, ambulance and rescue squads [NJLRA]
  • Bill in Georgia legislature aims to apply workers’-comp-like principles to med-mal [Florida Times-Union]
  • I mostly agree that med-mal reform is for states to decide, but Ramesh Ponnuru may underrate Washington’s legitimate role in prescribing legal consequences when it pays for care [Bloomberg/syndicated]
  • Shift burdens through price control: NJ assemblyman’s bill would prohibit insurers from considering docs’ claims experience except for cases that result in actual court findings [NJLRA]
  • Someone’s hand stuck in the sharps box again? Sixth time this month [Throckmorton]
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    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/04/medical-roundup-9/feed/ 1     R.I.P. Jeffrey O’Connell https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/01/r-i-p-jeffrey-oconnell/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/01/r-i-p-jeffrey-oconnell/#comments Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:04:15 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=35306 The “father of no-fault,” who died on Sunday at age 84, was an eminent torts professor at the University of Virginia, a public-spirited advocate of reform over many decades, and a renowned teacher. A valued friend and mentor, he was one of the most personally gracious and generous academics I’ve ever known. The New York […]

    R.I.P. Jeffrey O’Connell is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     The “father of no-fault,” who died on Sunday at age 84, was an eminent torts professor at the University of Virginia, a public-spirited advocate of reform over many decades, and a renowned teacher. A valued friend and mentor, he was one of the most personally gracious and generous academics I’ve ever known. The New York Times has a good obituary. Just last year New Hampshire enacted an “early offers” statute encouraging prompt settlement of medical malpractice disputes partly inspired by Prof. O’Connell’s work. More: University of Virginia, Christopher Robinette/TortsProf.

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    R.I.P. Jeffrey O’Connell is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2013/01/r-i-p-jeffrey-oconnell/feed/ 1     NYC: hospitals going bare https://www.overlawyered.com/2012/07/nyc-hospitals-going-bare/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2012/07/nyc-hospitals-going-bare/#comments Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:40:07 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=31692 “Several hospitals in New York City are eliminating or trimming malpractice insurance, and at least two of them have no further reserves to pay claims. Some hospitals in other cities, particularly jurisdictions known for large malpractice awards, are also going uninsured, the New York Times reports.” [ABA Journal] Tags: hospitals, medical malpractice insurance, NYC

    NYC: hospitals going bare is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     “Several hospitals in New York City are eliminating or trimming malpractice insurance, and at least two of them have no further reserves to pay claims. Some hospitals in other cities, particularly jurisdictions known for large malpractice awards, are also going uninsured, the New York Times reports.” [ABA Journal]

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    NYC: hospitals going bare is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     https://www.overlawyered.com/2012/07/nyc-hospitals-going-bare/feed/ 6     Medical roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2012/05/medical-roundup-4/ Mon, 21 May 2012 04:03:22 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=29663 Government’s hospital care guidelines may be fueling dangerous overuse of antibiotics [White Coat] FDA says fewer drugs are in shortage [Reuters, earlier here, etc.] “Post-tort-reform Texas doctor supply” [Ted Frank/PoL and commenters] “Change in Procedures Lets Medical Malpractice [Insurance] Industry Thrive” [PC 360] Forcing companies to make politicized disclosures to customers implicates First Amendment [Hans […]

    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Government’s hospital care guidelines may be fueling dangerous overuse of antibiotics [White Coat] FDA says fewer drugs are in shortage [Reuters, earlier here, etc.]
  • “Post-tort-reform Texas doctor supply” [Ted Frank/PoL and commenters] “Change in Procedures Lets Medical Malpractice [Insurance] Industry Thrive” [PC 360]
  • Forcing companies to make politicized disclosures to customers implicates First Amendment [Hans Bader on HHS “must credit ObamaCare” reg]
  • Iqbal and Twombly SCOTUS decisions on pleading have helped protect pharmaceutical defendants from flimsily based suits [James Beck, who has changed law firms to Reed Smith]
  • How accurate is hospital data coding? Ask thousands of pregnant British men [Nigel Hawkes via Flowing Data]
  • Class-action-fed boom in Medicaid dentistry + “let’s put docs in schools” idea = scope for horrific abuse, no matter how it’s financed [Bloomberg via Jesse Walker]
  • Suits blaming obstetricians for cerebral palsy rack up $78 million win in Philadelphia, $74 million in California [Legal Intelligencer, Cal Coast News]
  • Ninth Circuit: on reflection, let’s not seize control of VA mental health programs [AP, earlier here, etc.]
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    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>         Medical roundup https://www.overlawyered.com/2012/04/medical-roundup-3/ https://www.overlawyered.com/2012/04/medical-roundup-3/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:02:10 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=28459 Primer on “severability”: would ObamaCare fall if individual mandate struck down? [Loyola, Epstein, Shapiro, American Interest] Maybe the President picked the wrong fight: “Supreme Court’s Ratings Jump Following Health Care Hearings” [Randy Barnett] Heritage on med-mal reform and federalism [Hans von Spakovsky; my take] A case for New Hampshire’s “early offer” med-mal proposal [Robinette, TortsProf] […]

    Medical roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Primer on “severability”: would ObamaCare fall if individual mandate struck down? [Loyola, Epstein, Shapiro, American Interest] Maybe the President picked the wrong fight: “Supreme Court’s Ratings Jump Following Health Care Hearings” [Randy Barnett]
  • Heritage on med-mal reform and federalism [Hans von Spakovsky; my take] A case for New Hampshire’s “early offer” med-mal proposal [Robinette, TortsProf] “Ohio’s tort reform has curbed soaring malpractice costs” [Columbus Dispatch editorial]
  • Madison County: plaintiff’s lawyer seeks gag order in med-mal case [MC Record]
  • Academics debate whether authorities should crack down on medical tourism [Cohen et al, Opinio Juris]
  • Shortage of physician volunteers at marathon sports events, readers of this site can guess the reason [Outside mag via White Coat]
  • Connecticut Gov. Malloy proposes letting home health workers rather than nurses administer pills to homebound patients, major savings foreseen [Connecticut Mirror] Related, David Henderson;
  • Governments now often cite HIPAA as reason not to release information regarding accidents, crimes and disasters [Glenn Cook, Las Vegas Review-Journal] How HIPAA implementation can keep patient history out of emergency medical responders’ hands [EP Monthly]
  • London: Red Ken has pay doc, NHS being Not His Style [Marian Tupy, Cato at Liberty]
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