side note: Today’s healthcare industry is increasingly dependent on computers and data sharing via the internet or an intranet system. Add to this the increasingly common use of social networking services, like Facebook, as a means of marketing a medical practice to potential patient customers. This evolution toward cyber-dependency has been accelerated by the Patient […]

side note: The report discussed in this article was published by the James Madison Institute (JMI), a Florida-based think tank dedicated to dedicated to advancing the ideas of limited government, economic freedom, federalism and individual liberty coupled with individual responsibility. The JMI report argues that the current medical liability tort system is ineffective, costly and […]

side note: Medical malpractice insurance premiums are threatened by a case before the Missouri Supreme Court. The state’s high court is currently considering the constitutionality of Missouri’s $1.2 million cap on non-economic, pain-and-suffering damages in medical malpractice cases. In the case being considered, the plaintiff’s estate was awarded $1 million for past medical bills and […]

side note: Since 1975, capping non-economic (pain and suffering) damages in medical malpractice lawsuits has been considered the Gold Standard of effective tort reforms. There is gobs of data supporting the conclusion that state’s with non-economic damage caps have considerably lower medical malpractice insurance premiums than states of a comparable size and demographic that do […]

side note: This is an extreme example of a topic that I’ve done plenty of writing about. As the nation’s abuse of prescription painkillers continues to grow, it is more than likely to result in a growing number of physicians who prescribe those painkillers being sued for malpractice or arrested for law breaking. In the […]

side note: Since 1975, California’s MICRA Tort Reforms, which include a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, has been the gold standard of tort reforms for more than 35 years. It has been tested in the state’s court system regularly, and most recently, an appellate court decision that reduced a $6 million jury award to the […]

Side Note: Last week we talked about the uniqueness of the emergency room –specifically, how the acuteness of the patient’s situation, paired with the lack of a medical record, often produces a situation ripe with liability exposure and potential medical malpractice. Today, we face a similar situation –how pharmacists in New Hampshire are being allowed […]

side note: This is the Illinois story that keeps on giving. Last year, the Chicago Tribune did an investigative article where it was discovered an appalling number of Illinois doctors practicing with convictions on their record for sex crimes or violent acts against patients. This led directly to the passage and implementation of House Bill […]

side note: California’s MICRA Act has been considered the gold standard of tort reform since 1975, but Texas’ 2003 medical liability tort reforms built on California’s law and upped the ante. And the results have been amazing. The article below purports that in the wake of the Lone Star State’s 2003 reforms, the number of […]