Med Mal News

Grants to Be Available for Study of Med-Mal System Alternatives

President Barack Obama has ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to make $25 million available to groups that will study alternatives to our nation's current medical liability system. Noting that medical malpractice insurance premiums account for only a small percentage of the costs of running a medical practice, the President's memorandum to the Secretary of HHS nevertheless pointed out that many physicians report they are practicing defensive medicine in order to avoid medical liability, leading to increased medical costs for all American medical care consumers. “We should explore medical liability reform as one way to improve the quality of care and patient-safety practices and to reduce defensive medicine,” said the President. The grants are to be made available to states, localities and health care provider systems wanting to study alternatives to our current medical liability system. In accordance with a “fact sheet” issued in conjunction with the letter to the Secretary of HHS, grants of up to $3 million may be made, and one-year planning grants of up to $300,000 will also be made available. Decisions on grant awards are slated to be announced early in 2010.

The American Association for Justice (AAJ ' formerly the American Association of Trial Lawyers) on Sept. 17 issued a statement in response to the President's letter to HHS. The Association, noting that 46 states have already passed some form of tort reform measure, turned its attention to the limits these laws have placed on injured patients, stating, “It is critical that these demonstration projects preserve Americans' 7th Amendment right to a trial by jury. The details matter significantly, but any efforts to limit patients' rights are not acceptable. Promoting greater patient safety and reducing preventable medical errors are tenets doctors, attorneys, hospitals, and all Americans can support.”

The AAJ has also launched an advertising campaign aimed at telling lawmakers that limitations on medical malpractice suits and recoveries are unfair to injured patients and will not lower the costs of medical care. The first phase of the campaign, focused on Washington-area news providers, points out that 98,000 people die each year due to preventable medical errors. “That's like two 737s crashing every day for a whole year,” says the ad. The advertisement concludes by asking, “Would we blame the passengers or the airlines?” In conjunction with the publication of the new ads, AAJ President Anthony Tarricone explained, “This new ad campaign gives Congress 98,000 reasons why they should put patients' health first ' before the profits of insurance companies. If we work to improve our health care system and reduce medical errors ' rather than strip people of their rights ' there would be far fewer victims that need legal recourse.”

New Defendants Charged in Insurance Fraud Case

In September, seven hospital workers, all of them employed in the Bronx at either the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center or Jacobi Hospital, were accused of accepting bribes from an attorney in exchange for confidential medical information that the lawyer allegedly used to solicit clients in a no-fault insurance scam. According to a release from New York's Office of the Attorney General, “The information was then allegedly used by others to lure patients into receiving unnecessary treatment and then submit over a million dollars in phony personal injury claims to insurance carriers.” The seven medical personnel are each charged with receiving a bribe in the third degree, a Class D felony, and with the misdemeanor charge of official misconduct. These seven join several medical care personnel arrested in July in connection with the same alleged plot. According to the original 147-count indictment filed in Bronx Supreme Court on July 8, the scheme was run by Queens resident Daniel Levy, who is affiliated with two medical clinics in the Bronx. These clinics allegedly provided unnecessary care to victims of minor traffic accidents referred to the clinics after information was obtained about them through their confidential medical records. In response to the news that charges had been brought against these additional defendants, Rose Gill Hearn, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, said, “Undercover investigators from DOI [New York City's Department of Investigation] and the state Attorney General's Office exposed this con game for what it was ' as charged, professionals selling their integrity to exploit confidential patient information for personal gain.”

Fertility Clinic Mix-Up Leads to Suit

A suit has been filed against a San Francisco fertility clinic and against several health care providers working there by a woman whose embryos were accidentally fertilized with sperm from someone other than her husband. When the mistake was discovered, the Laurel Fertility Clinic destroyed the fertilized embryos, without the couple's consent. According to the plaintiff couples' lawyer, Nancy Hersh, founding partner at San Francisco's Hersh & Hersh, the woman whose embryos were disposed of “believes one of the reasons they destroyed the embryos without her permission and against her wishes and in violation of the contract is because they didn't want to have to notify the gentleman whose sperm they had used of the mistake.” The suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, does not allege medical malpractice, but instead claims the clinic and its personnel are guilty of common law negligence and of breach of contract. It seeks $80,000 in actual damages, plus punitive damages and damages for emotional distress.

Arizona Abortion Restriction Law Gets Restrictions of Its Own

A preliminary injunction has been issued preventing the State of Arizona from enforcing some of the provisions of its new abortion informed consent legislation, signed into law in July. The law requires physicians to inform women, in person, of the nature of the procedure and imposes a 24-hour waiting period between the time a woman receives this information and the time the procedure can be performed. It also requires minors to obtain notarized permission from their parents before an abortion can take place. Although the 24-hour waiting period was left in place, the court hearing the challenge to the new law enjoined enforcement of the requirement that only physicians provide informed consent; other personnel can now provide the information to women seeking abortions, and they may do so over the telephone. Similarly, the requirement of a notarized note from parents of minors was put on hold until notary confidentiality can be ensured.

Grants to Be Available for Study of Med-Mal System Alternatives

President Barack Obama has ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to make $25 million available to groups that will study alternatives to our nation's current medical liability system. Noting that medical malpractice insurance premiums account for only a small percentage of the costs of running a medical practice, the President's memorandum to the Secretary of HHS nevertheless pointed out that many physicians report they are practicing defensive medicine in order to avoid medical liability, leading to increased medical costs for all American medical care consumers. “We should explore medical liability reform as one way to improve the quality of care and patient-safety practices and to reduce defensive medicine,” said the President. The grants are to be made available to states, localities and health care provider systems wanting to study alternatives to our current medical liability system. In accordance with a “fact sheet” issued in conjunction with the letter to the Secretary of HHS, grants of up to $3 million may be made, and one-year planning grants of up to $300,000 will also be made available. Decisions on grant awards are slated to be announced early in 2010.

The American Association for Justice (AAJ ' formerly the American Association of Trial Lawyers) on Sept. 17 issued a statement in response to the President's letter to HHS. The Association, noting that 46 states have already passed some form of tort reform measure, turned its attention to the limits these laws have placed on injured patients, stating, “It is critical that these demonstration projects preserve Americans' 7th Amendment right to a trial by jury. The details matter significantly, but any efforts to limit patients' rights are not acceptable. Promoting greater patient safety and reducing preventable medical errors are tenets doctors, attorneys, hospitals, and all Americans can support.”

The AAJ has also launched an advertising campaign aimed at telling lawmakers that limitations on medical malpractice suits and recoveries are unfair to injured patients and will not lower the costs of medical care. The first phase of the campaign, focused on Washington-area news providers, points out that 98,000 people die each year due to preventable medical errors. “That's like two 737s crashing every day for a whole year,” says the ad. The advertisement concludes by asking, “Would we blame the passengers or the airlines?” In conjunction with the publication of the new ads, AAJ President Anthony Tarricone explained, “This new ad campaign gives Congress 98,000 reasons why they should put patients' health first ' before the profits of insurance companies. If we work to improve our health care system and reduce medical errors ' rather than strip people of their rights ' there would be far fewer victims that need legal recourse.”

New Defendants Charged in Insurance Fraud Case

In September, seven hospital workers, all of them employed in the Bronx at either the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center or Jacobi Hospital, were accused of accepting bribes from an attorney in exchange for confidential medical information that the lawyer allegedly used to solicit clients in a no-fault insurance scam. According to a release from New York's Office of the Attorney General, “The information was then allegedly used by others to lure patients into receiving unnecessary treatment and then submit over a million dollars in phony personal injury claims to insurance carriers.” The seven medical personnel are each charged with receiving a bribe in the third degree, a Class D felony, and with the misdemeanor charge of official misconduct. These seven join several medical care personnel arrested in July in connection with the same alleged plot. According to the original 147-count indictment filed in Bronx Supreme Court on July 8, the scheme was run by Queens resident Daniel Levy, who is affiliated with two medical clinics in the Bronx. These clinics allegedly provided unnecessary care to victims of minor traffic accidents referred to the clinics after information was obtained about them through their confidential medical records. In response to the news that charges had been brought against these additional defendants, Rose Gill Hearn, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, said, “Undercover investigators from DOI [New York City's Department of Investigation] and the state Attorney General's Office exposed this con game for what it was ' as charged, professionals selling their integrity to exploit confidential patient information for personal gain.”

Fertility Clinic Mix-Up Leads to Suit

A suit has been filed against a San Francisco fertility clinic and against several health care providers working there by a woman whose embryos were accidentally fertilized with sperm from someone other than her husband. When the mistake was discovered, the Laurel Fertility Clinic destroyed the fertilized embryos, without the couple's consent. According to the plaintiff couples' lawyer, Nancy Hersh, founding partner at San Francisco's Hersh & Hersh, the woman whose embryos were disposed of “believes one of the reasons they destroyed the embryos without her permission and against her wishes and in violation of the contract is because they didn't want to have to notify the gentleman whose sperm they had used of the mistake.” The suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, does not allege medical malpractice, but instead claims the clinic and its personnel are guilty of common law negligence and of breach of contract. It seeks $80,000 in actual damages, plus punitive damages and damages for emotional distress.

Arizona Abortion Restriction Law Gets Restrictions of Its Own

A preliminary injunction has been issued preventing the State of Arizona from enforcing some of the provisions of its new abortion informed consent legislation, signed into law in July. The law requires physicians to inform women, in person, of the nature of the procedure and imposes a 24-hour waiting period between the time a woman receives this information and the time the procedure can be performed. It also requires minors to obtain notarized permission from their parents before an abortion can take place. Although the 24-hour waiting period was left in place, the court hearing the challenge to the new law enjoined enforcement of the requirement that only physicians provide informed consent; other personnel can now provide the information to women seeking abortions, and they may do so over the telephone. Similarly, the requirement of a notarized note from parents of minors was put on hold until notary confidentiality can be ensured.