Latest Medical Professional Liability Headlines
All the headlines from our Medical Professional Liability Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Is Lack of La. Hospital Evacuation Plan Negligence or Malpractice?
Apr 13 2007 // A question that could shunt hundreds of Hurricane Katrina claims against hospitals away from court, putting them before a state malpractice panel, is up before the Louisiana Supreme Court. The justices heard arguments...
Majority of medical malpractice claims close without payment
Apr 9 2007 // The majority of medical malpractice claims in a study of seven states were closed without any compensation paid to those claiming a medical injury, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)...
Consumer groups say market forces, not claims, caused most recent medical malpractice crisis
Apr 9 2007 // A consumer coalition released a report that disputes insurers’ contention that the most recent medical malpractice insurance crisis for doctors was caused by rising costs. The study, Stable Losses/Unstable Rates...
Most Ill. medical malpractice cases settle before trial, Justice Department report says
Apr 9 2007 // From 2000-2004, few medical malpractice insurance claims in Illinois and six other states closed with a payout to the person seeking compensation, with most settling before a trial, according to a Justice Depart-ment...
Darwin Launches New Clinical Research Liability Product, Team
Apr 5 2007 // Farmington, Conn.-based specialty insurer Darwin Professional Underwriters, Inc. is now making available a new specialty liability coverage with the addition of clinical research liability insurance (CRLI). Darwin...
Not So Fast: Tenn. Med-Mal Bill May Not Be Dead After All
Apr 2 2007 // Tennessee House Judiciary Chairman Rob Briley has backed off his earlier threat to scuttle a proposed legislative compromise on medical malpractice lawsuits. The Senate Judiciary Committee last week advanced the medical...
Consumer Groups Say Market Forces, Not Claims, Caused Med Mal Crisis
Mar 29 2007 // A consumer coalition has released a new study that disputes insurers’ contention that the most recent medical malpractice insurance crisis for doctors was caused by rising costs. The study, Stable Losses/Unstable...
Court ruling indicates claims made policy language ambiguous
Mar 26 2007 // A recent San Diego Superior Court ruling serves as a potential warning to legal malpractice insurers to review policy language to ensure their claims made policies can’t be more broadly construed as occurrence...
New Medical Malpractice Market Opens for Florida Nurses
Mar 23 2007 // Sophia Palmer Nurses Risk Retention Group, Inc. will offer malpractice insurance to Florida nurses in partnership with the Florida Nurses Association. The newly formed Risk Retention Group was capitalized by Ponce de Leon...
Georgia Considers Scrapping Immunity for Emergency Doctors
Mar 20 2007 // Families like the Fretwells seem to be forgotten in the annual turf war between doctors and lawyers in Georgia’s Capitol over who should be protected from malpractice lawsuits. Like others, Rodney and Sherry Fretwell...
Health Proposals Would Reduce Uninsured and Costs, Analysis Finds
Mar 20 2007 // Many current Congressional health care proposals could significantly reduce the number of uninsured Americans and also decrease overall health care expenditures including those for insurance administration and prescription...
Tenn. Malpractice Bill Pushes Certification to Weed Out Claims
Mar 16 2007 // A compromise on medical malpractice reform in the works by the Tennessee Legislature wouldn’t set a cap on damages but would create a way to penalize lawyers who bring frivolous lawsuits. Insurers and doctors have...
Oregon Malpractice Claims Among Nation’s Lowest
Mar 15 2007 // Medical malpractice claim payouts in Oregon are lower than those in all but seven other states despite the elimination of a cap on such awards in 1999, a new study shows. The study researchers tried to measure the effects...
R.I. Lawmaker Targets Hospital Errors
Feb 27 2007 // Between 44,000 and 98,000 patients die each year in U.S. hospitals because of mistakes, infections and other adverse situations. That’s more deaths than those caused by breast cancer, AIDS or car accidents. Most of...
Ariz. lawmakers move to raise burden of proof on ER suits
Feb 26 2007 // The Arizona Senate has narrowly approved a medical malpractice bill to raise the bar on the legal burden of proof required for malpractice lawsuits involving emergency medical care. The Senate approved the bill 16-12,...
Nevada’s med-mal changes help doctors, hinder lawsuits
Feb 26 2007 // Physicians’ insurance premiums are down and more doctors are coming to Nevada since voters limited damages in medical malpractice cases, lawmakers were told this month. But trial lawyers said many malpractice victims...
News Currents
Feb 25 2007 // Nevada’s med-mal changes help doctors, hinder lawsuits Physicians’ insurance premiums are down and more doctors are coming to Nevada since voters limited damages in medical malpractice cases, lawmakers were...
Ariz. lawmakers move to raise burden of proof on ER suits
Feb 25 2007 // The Arizona Senate has narrowly approved a medical malpractice bill to raise the bar on the legal burden of proof required for malpractice lawsuits involving emergency medical care. The Senate approved the bill 16-12,...
Malpractice Suit by Former Pats’ Coach Ends in Mistrial
Feb 22 2007 // A judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis’ medical malpractice lawsuit after a juror collapsed and several doctors — including the two defendants — rushed to his aid. The juror, an...
Ga. Proposal Would Require Prior State Approval of Med-Mal Rates
Feb 14 2007 // House Republicans introduced a measure that requires Georgia’s top insurance official to sign off on each medical malpractice rate hike, saying they’re unconvinced that new state laws aimed at suppressing...
