Latest Medical Professional Liability Headlines
All the headlines from our Medical Professional Liability Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Coronavirus Drives Patients to Online Doctors, Spurring Telemedicine Sector
Mar 13 2020 // The new coronavirus that’s forcing lockdowns and roiling economies is spurring a silent revolution in the field of telemedicine. As COVID-19 spreads across Europe, leaving new patients in its wake, the fear of...
Workers on Coronavirus Front Lines Fear Protections Are Inadequate
Mar 9 2020 // As coronavirus cases exploded across the world, federal medical workers tasked with screening incoming passengers at U.S. airports grew alarmed: Many were working without the most effective masks to protect them from...
Bill to Make Healthcare Facilities Safer Places to Work Passes Oklahoma Senate
Mar 5 2020 // The Oklahoma Senate has passed legislation that strengthens laws related to workplace safety in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Senate Bill 1290, the Medical Care Provider Protection Act, by Sen. Darrell Weaver,...
New York Insurers Required to Waive Cost-Sharing for Coronavirus Testing
Mar 3 2020 // The New York State Department of Financial Services is requiring New York health insurers to waive cost sharing associated with testing for novel coronavirus, including emergency room, urgent care and office visits. New...
ProAssurance Looks to Acquire NORCAL in $450M Deal
Feb 21 2020 // Healthcare liability insurer ProAssurance Corp. has agreed to acquire medical professional liability insurer NORCAL Mutual Insurance Co. following NORCAL’s demutualization in a $450 million transaction. Based on...
Arkansas Health System Sued for Age Discrimination
Feb 10 2020 // White River Health System Inc., a provider of health care services throughout North Central Arkansas, has been sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for age discrimination. In a lawsuit filed on...
Coronavirus Update: Deaths Surpass 900; World Health Experts Head to Beijing
Feb 9 2020 // BEIJING, Feb 10 — An advance team of international experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) has left for Beijing to help investigate China’s coronavirus epidemic, which authorities said on Monday had...
Hospital’s Ransomware Attack Exposes New Risk for Muni-Bond Issuers
Feb 6 2020 // Hackers have finally done what bond issuers may have feared most from cyber criminals. A ransomware attack on Pleasant Valley Hospital in West Virginia was partly responsible for the hospital’s breach of its covenant...
Michigan Health System: Ex-Worker Stole Patient Data and Shared It
Jan 28 2020 // A southeastern Michigan hospital system said that a now-fired employee accessed and shared what was supposed to be protected personal and health information of more than 1,000 patients with someone affiliated with a...
China’s Mysterious Respiratory Virus Spreads to Health Workers, Different Countries
Jan 21 2020 // China’s mysterious respiratory virus has caused six deaths and infected a number of medical workers, a sign the outbreak has entered a new phase with the illness spreading from person to person. Health-care workers...
Oklahoma Legislature to Again Take Up Issue of Surprise Medical Billing
Jan 15 2020 // How to prevent surprise medical billing from out-of-network health care providers will be on the docket for Oklahoma lawmakers during this year’s legislative session. The issue was taken up during the 2019 session...
Judge Won’t Make Health System Fund Defense of Accused Ohio Doctor
Jan 10 2020 // A federal judge declined for now to compel a Michigan-based health system to advance legal costs for a doctor’s defense against murder charges in the deaths of 25 Ohio hospital patients. U.S. District Judge George...
Texas Workers’ Comp Division Releases Health Care Provider Oversight Results for 2019
Jan 3 2020 // In late December, the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) released the 2019 Health Care Provider Performance Based Oversight (PBO) assessment. For 2019, health care providers were...
Most Common Workers’ Compensation Medical Provider Fraud Schemes
Dec 31 2019 // While most insurance claims are legitimate, studies indicate that 10% or more of all property/casualty insurance claims are fraudulent. In the workers’ compensation industry, combatting fraud can seem like a game of...
Health Provider in Arizona to Pay $6M Settlement in Breach
Dec 24 2019 // A Phoenix, Ariz.-based health provider has agreed to settle a lawsuit over a computer data breach that may have compromised health and personal data of about 3 million patients, employees, health insurance customers and...
Convicted of Workers’ Comp Fraud, Houston Medical Facility Must Repay $30K
Dec 23 2019 // A Houston medical facility was ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to workers’ compensation fraud in a Travis County District Court. The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of...
Health System in California Pays $575M to Settle Anti-Trust Lawsuit
Dec 23 2019 // One of Northern California’s largest health systems will pay $575 million to settle claims that it used anti-competitive practices to bump up costs for patients, the state’s attorney general said last week,...
Mass. High Court Upholds Consent-to-Settle Clause in Malpractice Policy
Dec 20 2019 // Massachusetts’ highest court on Monday rejected arguments that consent-to-settle clauses in professional malpractice insurance policies violate public policy. The Supreme Judicial Court sided with CNA subsidiary...
Holiday Parties for Health, Liability-Conscious Wall Street Firms Feature Smoothies, Yoga
Dec 18 2019 // Fruit smoothies may become the new martini for Wall Street holiday parties. Banking and trading firm BTIG LLC, for example, cut alcohol from its annual employee celebration on Dec. 12 at its New York offices. Instead,...
Surprise Medical Bill Moving in Congress Could Help Insurers As Well as Patients
Dec 16 2019 // Congress is closing in on a deal that could shield patients from surprise medical bills, eliminating a source of frustration for Americans who face unexpected charges from emergency care and other procedures. The question...
