side note: In 2005, the Illinois Legislature passed a series of tort reform laws intended to have a deflating effect on medical malpractice insurance premiums for the state’s healthcare workforce. At the heart of these reforms was a $500,000 cap on non-economic damages. Non-economic damages are harms such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement […]

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: The Louisiana Medical Society took heed from the woes of states like Wisconsin and New Hampshire. Both state governments raided their Patient Compensation Fund as a way of balancing their budgets. Both states’ medical societies fought the move in court; both medical societies came out winners. While both PCFs were eventually given their […]

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: Illinois patients now have another way to research their physicians. Similar to a database that was taken offline last year, a new searchable online database was launched Wednesday, October 19 called, Physician Profile. Included in the database are all of Illinois’ 46,000 licensed physicians and surgeons with information about their educational background and […]

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: This is another case illustrating the consolidation of the medical malpractice insurance industry. Other recent acquisitions include The Doctors Company acquiring APCapital and NORCAL acquiring Medicus Insurance. The question yet to be answered is what effect these acquisitions will have on the medical professional liability insurance industry. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway’s […]