Latest Medical Professional Liability Headlines
All the headlines from our Medical Professional Liability Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Task Force X-Rays Maryland Medical Malpractice System
Dec 6 2004 // Having low risk doctors subsidize premiums for higher risk doctors, establishing state courts exclusively for health matters, abolishing the state’s arbitration office, licensing life care planners, restricting...
Coalition Delivers Signatures for Wash. Med-Mal Initiative
Dec 3 2004 // Led by a father whose baby was badly injured during a botched delivery, a coalition of activists, labor leaders and lawyers has submitted about 200,000 signatures for an initiative to the Washington Legislature aimed at...
S&P Affirms APA Ratings
Nov 29 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has revised its outlook on Michigan-based American Physicians Assurance Corp. (APA) to stable from negative. At the same time, Standard & Poor’s affirmed its...
Missouri Malpractice Claims Fall by 14%, But Premiums Rise
Nov 22 2004 // The number of medical malpractice claims filed and paid is declining in Missouri, yet physicians’ premiums are rising, according to a report from the state Insurance Department. New medical malpractice claims dropped...
Two United Healthcare Companies Agree to $1.1M Settlement With N.C.
Nov 22 2004 // North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Jim Long announced a voluntary settlement agreement between the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) and two companies, United Healthcare of North Carolina Inc. (an HMO) and...
Consumers Caught in the Middle
Nov 22 2004 // In four states, Florida, Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming, pre-election battles raged between doctors, who claimed that America’s liability system is broken and should be repaired by placing caps on malpractice lawsuits,...
Special Legislative Session in Maryland Unlikely Before Doctors Med-Mal Payments Due
Nov 19 2004 // The head of a Maryland Senate committee developing legislation to deal with rising medical malpractice premiums said the panel should finalize its proposal at its next meeting in two weeks, and doesn’t think a...
Study: Medical Liability Harming Maryland Economy
Nov 17 2004 // A hospital industry backed study indicates that Maryland’s medical liability environment that is costing medical professionals more and more could end up costing as many as 3,000 jobs by 2005. “The effects of...
Best Upgrades FSR Ratings of Sierra Health Services
Nov 17 2004 // A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength rating to B++ (Very Good) from B+ (Very Good) of Sierra Health Services Inc.’s core HMO subsidiaries, Health Plan of Nevada Inc. (both of Las Vegas, Nev.), and its...
Md. Insurer Raises Rates for 6,000 Doctors
Nov 16 2004 // In what state legislators call a looming medical malpractice insurance crisis, the debate has focused on trial lawyers and incompetent doctors. Less attention has been paid to the Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society...
Ohio Medical Malpractice Commission Meets Tomorrow for 18th Time
Nov 16 2004 // The Ohio Medical Malpractice Commission will hold its 18th meeting tomorrow at 1 p.m. EST. The commission will hear testimony regarding the feasibility of a patient compensation fund, the effectiveness of medical...
CRM Offers New Workers’ Comp Program for California Health Care Workers
Nov 16 2004 // In an effort to help alleviate the shortage of affordable workers’ compensation insurance for California’s sizable health care industry workforce, Compensation Risk Managers (CRM) has begun offering coverage to...
Oregon Legislature Next Arena in Malpractice Battle
Nov 15 2004 // After narrowly losing in the Nov. 2 election, Oregon doctors who pushed for a cap on jury awards in malpractice lawsuits are preparing to take their fight to another arena: the 2005 Legislature. The physicians won’t...
Interns’ Medical Errors Affected by Work Schedules
Nov 15 2004 // The rate of serious medical errors committed by first-year doctors in training in two intensive care units (ICUs) at a Boston hospital fell significantly when traditional 30-hour-in-a-row extended work shifts were...
Mo. Malpractice Claims Fall But Premiums Rise
Nov 9 2004 // The number of medical malpractice claims filed and paid is declining in Missouri, yet physicians’ premiums are rising, according to a report from the state Insurance Department. New medical malpractice claims dropped...
Study: Malpractice Caps Would Save Companies 15 Percent
Nov 8 2004 // Groups for and against capping noneconomic damage awards for medical malpractice both claimed that a Wyoming Healthcare Commission report upholds their positions. The study suggests that capping noneconomic damages at...
Maryland Seeks Funding for Med-Mal Plan
Nov 8 2004 // Democratic legislative leaders worked late last week to revive a stalled attempt to do something about the 33 percent increase in medical malpractice insurance premiums that some Maryland doctors say threatens to drive...
CARH Makes Renewed Call to Action Following Election
Nov 5 2004 // The Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Healthcare (CARH) has issued a resounding call to action in the wake of this week’s election results. Medical liability reform gained momentum on Tuesday with a successful...
Florida Doctors, Lawyers At Odds Over Effects of Malpractice Amendments
Nov 5 2004 // After years of fighting over medical malpractice, doctors and lawyers who represent victims aren’t going to declare peace just because voters approved a few new amendments in the Florida Constitution. Both groups of...
DMLR: N.C. Patients, Doctors Win with Burr Election
Nov 3 2004 // Doctors for Medical Liability Reform (DMLR) said North Carolina patients and physicians will see another supporter of national medical liability reform in the U.S. Senate come January 2005. On Tuesday, North Carolina...
