Med Mal News

Court Finds Doctors' Group Has Standing to Sue State Medical Board

A suit against the Texas Medical Board (TMB) will be allowed to proceed now that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has held that a physicians' group has standing to sue on behalf of its members. The doctors' group, the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc. (AAPS), has accused the TMB of using anonymous complaints and retaliatory actions against physicians in violation of their constitutional rights. The TMB's actions, the group claims, have harmed physicians' reputations and livelihoods while at the same time making them fearful of lodging complaints against the system for fear of retaliation. For example, the plaintiff claims that a New York insurance company, seeking to avoid paying a claim, was permitted to make harmful anonymous complaints against a physician. The suit was dismissed for lack of standing in the District Court, but the Fifth Circuit reversed in Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc. v. Texas Medical Board (TMB), stating, “AAPS's complaint alleged, among other things, abuses perpetrated on physicians by means of anonymous complaints, harassment of doctors who complained about the Board, and conflicts of interest by decision-makers. If practiced systematically, such abuses may have violated or chilled AAPS members' constitutional rights.” Other circuits are split on the question whether to grant “associational standing” in cases like these, with some saying individuals must bring their own suits. Advocates for the approach adopted by the Fifth Circuit contend that individuals are in no position to press their own claims against medical boards, as they face long delays in their cases and place themselves in danger of retaliatory actions by their medical boards when they protest what they see as unfair treatment.

Bloomberg Asks NY Lawyers To Back Tort Reform

At the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association in January, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg asked the state's attorneys to support the enactment of medical malpractice tort reform laws. He explained to the group's “presidential summit” attendees that such reforms could save the city tens or hundreds of millions of dollars per year in medical malpractice and liability payments. Mayor Bloomberg cited worsening statistics to bolster his case, noting that the city paid civil litigants with complaints about medical care just $20 million in 1978 as compared to the nearly $500 million it now pays per year. “It's an affront to taxpayers,” said the mayor, who urged his listeners to “[h]elp us to make the law fairer to litigants and taxpayers.”

CA Legislators Question Progress Under Federal Prison Receiver

California's legislators have reportedly become frustrated with the progress of the court appointed federal receiver in improving the state's prison medical care system. Dolan, J., Los Angeles Times, 1/27/11 (http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-prisons-20110127,0,2548791.story). California's prison health care system was placed under the management of the federal receiver in 2006 after the state failed to make sufficient progress in improving medical conditions for inmates, as ordered years earlier by a federal court. However, four years after the receiver took charge, expenses are high yet results are few, as the State Assembly learned on Jan. 26 when it was given a report on the subject from the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review. Among the examples of poor progress cited in the report: More than $80 million has already been spent on plans for new medical facilities that have not been built, and may never be built. The money for these and other prisoner health care-related expenditures is coming from California's taxpayers, yet the state has little authority over how it is being spent.

Court Finds Doctors' Group Has Standing to Sue State Medical Board

A suit against the Texas Medical Board (TMB) will be allowed to proceed now that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has held that a physicians' group has standing to sue on behalf of its members. The doctors' group, the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc. (AAPS), has accused the TMB of using anonymous complaints and retaliatory actions against physicians in violation of their constitutional rights. The TMB's actions, the group claims, have harmed physicians' reputations and livelihoods while at the same time making them fearful of lodging complaints against the system for fear of retaliation. For example, the plaintiff claims that a New York insurance company, seeking to avoid paying a claim, was permitted to make harmful anonymous complaints against a physician. The suit was dismissed for lack of standing in the District Court, but the Fifth Circuit reversed in Association of American Physicians & Surgeons Inc. v. Texas Medical Board (TMB), stating, “AAPS's complaint alleged, among other things, abuses perpetrated on physicians by means of anonymous complaints, harassment of doctors who complained about the Board, and conflicts of interest by decision-makers. If practiced systematically, such abuses may have violated or chilled AAPS members' constitutional rights.” Other circuits are split on the question whether to grant “associational standing” in cases like these, with some saying individuals must bring their own suits. Advocates for the approach adopted by the Fifth Circuit contend that individuals are in no position to press their own claims against medical boards, as they face long delays in their cases and place themselves in danger of retaliatory actions by their medical boards when they protest what they see as unfair treatment.

Bloomberg Asks NY Lawyers To Back Tort Reform

At the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association in January, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg asked the state's attorneys to support the enactment of medical malpractice tort reform laws. He explained to the group's “presidential summit” attendees that such reforms could save the city tens or hundreds of millions of dollars per year in medical malpractice and liability payments. Mayor Bloomberg cited worsening statistics to bolster his case, noting that the city paid civil litigants with complaints about medical care just $20 million in 1978 as compared to the nearly $500 million it now pays per year. “It's an affront to taxpayers,” said the mayor, who urged his listeners to “[h]elp us to make the law fairer to litigants and taxpayers.”

CA Legislators Question Progress Under Federal Prison Receiver

California's legislators have reportedly become frustrated with the progress of the court appointed federal receiver in improving the state's prison medical care system. Dolan, J., Los Angeles Times, 1/27/11 (http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-prisons-20110127,0,2548791.story). California's prison health care system was placed under the management of the federal receiver in 2006 after the state failed to make sufficient progress in improving medical conditions for inmates, as ordered years earlier by a federal court. However, four years after the receiver took charge, expenses are high yet results are few, as the State Assembly learned on Jan. 26 when it was given a report on the subject from the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review. Among the examples of poor progress cited in the report: More than $80 million has already been spent on plans for new medical facilities that have not been built, and may never be built. The money for these and other prisoner health care-related expenditures is coming from California's taxpayers, yet the state has little authority over how it is being spent.