Med Mal News

Baltimore Sun Warns: MD Consumers Kept in the Dark

A series of articles published in The Baltimore Sun in December questions whether Maryland's system for policing medical care standards is working as it should. (Schulte, “Masking Malpractice Cases,” The Baltimore Sun, 12/18/20.) The series charges that the state's Board of Physicians, a group created 3 years ago to oversee the enforcement of medical care standards, is not adequately investigating those accused of repeated malpractice. According to the articles, the Board also gives little information on its consumer Web site, failing, for instance, to list malpractice case data that Virginia's Web site posts concerning doctors licensed in both Maryland and Virginia.

Vermont Doctors Ask for Reforms

A committee of the Vermont Medical Society (VMS) issued a report to the Vermont General Assembly in December detailing the results of a study conducted addressing the group's medical malpractice liability concerns. The VMS wants the government to enact legislation that will prevent practitioner apologies from being used in court against them. It also wants medical malpractice cases to be put before a screening panel before they can be tried in court, in an effort to stop frivolous lawsuits before they become too expensive and time consuming for innocent medical practitioners and institutions. The group also asked lawmakers to decrease the statute of limitations for filing medical malpractice cases and to limit attorney fees collectable.

JCAHO's Staffing Service Review Cycle Extended

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) announced Dec. 30, 2005 that organizations participating in its Health Care Staffing Services Certification Program will undergo an on-site review every 2 years rather than every year, as was the previous practice. JCAHO launched the certification program in 2004 in response to quality concerns prompted by on-going shortages in the industry of nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals. These shortages have caused health care organizations to fill positions with temporary workers through contractual arrangements with staffing firms. The Joint Commission certification program provides an independent, comprehensive evaluation of a staffing agency's abilities to provide competent staffing services.

Did California Insurers Play with the Numbers?

In a release issued Dec. 29, 2005, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), a consumer watch-dog group, accused medical malpractice insurance companies in California of inflating estimates of how much they would pay out in claims when making reports to state regulators between 1986 and 1994. They did this, the group claims, in order to justify steep increases in insurance premiums and as a lever to convince legislators that tort reform was necessary to save the medical profession from runaway rate increases.

The FTCR study compared the dollar amounts medical malpractice insurers initially reported they would pay out on policies in effect between 1986 and 1994 with insurers' reports made 10 years later of what they actually paid out in claims under policies in effect in each of those years. Using these figures, the group estimates insurers inflated their losses by an average of 46% per year, with some years showing discrepancies of up to 66%.

Drug Makers Get Sweeping Immunities During Health Emergencies

On Dec. 30, 2005 President Bush signed into a defense spending bill containing a measure granting liability protection to vaccine makers when their products are used to combat a government-designated epidemic or pandemic disease. Drugs already on the market will enjoy the same protections as new vaccines if they are used to treat a designated catastrophic outbreak of illnesses. The law is highly controversial because it absolves drug makers of financial responsibility even if they are found grossly negligent. It also fails to set up a fund to compensate victims who experience adverse reactions to any of the covered vaccines. The new law's proponents, however, stress that drug companies need such immunities to encourage them to develop and market vaccines that may stop or curtail pandemic diseases.

Pennsylvania 'Crisis' Over?

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the medical malpractice insurance crisis is abating in Pennsylvania. (Goldstein, “Signs of 'Crisis' Fading, The Philadelphia Inquirer 1/2/06.) The report says malpractice cases from 2000 to 2004 dropped by one third, the amounts the Mcare Fund (the state's government-run program covering settlements and awards between $500,000 and $1 million) paid dropped, and the state's largest insurers did not raise rates this year.

Baltimore Sun Warns: MD Consumers Kept in the Dark

A series of articles published in The Baltimore Sun in December questions whether Maryland's system for policing medical care standards is working as it should. (Schulte, “Masking Malpractice Cases,” The Baltimore Sun, 12/18/20.) The series charges that the state's Board of Physicians, a group created 3 years ago to oversee the enforcement of medical care standards, is not adequately investigating those accused of repeated malpractice. According to the articles, the Board also gives little information on its consumer Web site, failing, for instance, to list malpractice case data that Virginia's Web site posts concerning doctors licensed in both Maryland and Virginia.

Vermont Doctors Ask for Reforms

A committee of the Vermont Medical Society (VMS) issued a report to the Vermont General Assembly in December detailing the results of a study conducted addressing the group's medical malpractice liability concerns. The VMS wants the government to enact legislation that will prevent practitioner apologies from being used in court against them. It also wants medical malpractice cases to be put before a screening panel before they can be tried in court, in an effort to stop frivolous lawsuits before they become too expensive and time consuming for innocent medical practitioners and institutions. The group also asked lawmakers to decrease the statute of limitations for filing medical malpractice cases and to limit attorney fees collectable.

JCAHO's Staffing Service Review Cycle Extended

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) announced Dec. 30, 2005 that organizations participating in its Health Care Staffing Services Certification Program will undergo an on-site review every 2 years rather than every year, as was the previous practice. JCAHO launched the certification program in 2004 in response to quality concerns prompted by on-going shortages in the industry of nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals. These shortages have caused health care organizations to fill positions with temporary workers through contractual arrangements with staffing firms. The Joint Commission certification program provides an independent, comprehensive evaluation of a staffing agency's abilities to provide competent staffing services.

Did California Insurers Play with the Numbers?

In a release issued Dec. 29, 2005, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), a consumer watch-dog group, accused medical malpractice insurance companies in California of inflating estimates of how much they would pay out in claims when making reports to state regulators between 1986 and 1994. They did this, the group claims, in order to justify steep increases in insurance premiums and as a lever to convince legislators that tort reform was necessary to save the medical profession from runaway rate increases.

The FTCR study compared the dollar amounts medical malpractice insurers initially reported they would pay out on policies in effect between 1986 and 1994 with insurers' reports made 10 years later of what they actually paid out in claims under policies in effect in each of those years. Using these figures, the group estimates insurers inflated their losses by an average of 46% per year, with some years showing discrepancies of up to 66%.

Drug Makers Get Sweeping Immunities During Health Emergencies

On Dec. 30, 2005 President Bush signed into a defense spending bill containing a measure granting liability protection to vaccine makers when their products are used to combat a government-designated epidemic or pandemic disease. Drugs already on the market will enjoy the same protections as new vaccines if they are used to treat a designated catastrophic outbreak of illnesses. The law is highly controversial because it absolves drug makers of financial responsibility even if they are found grossly negligent. It also fails to set up a fund to compensate victims who experience adverse reactions to any of the covered vaccines. The new law's proponents, however, stress that drug companies need such immunities to encourage them to develop and market vaccines that may stop or curtail pandemic diseases.

Pennsylvania 'Crisis' Over?

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the medical malpractice insurance crisis is abating in Pennsylvania. (Goldstein, “Signs of 'Crisis' Fading, The Philadelphia Inquirer 1/2/06.) The report says malpractice cases from 2000 to 2004 dropped by one third, the amounts the Mcare Fund (the state's government-run program covering settlements and awards between $500,000 and $1 million) paid dropped, and the state's largest insurers did not raise rates this year.