The Florida Supreme Court last month amended the state’s rules of appellate procedure “to provide for interlocutory review of nonfinal orders that deny a motion dismiss on the basis of the qualifications of a corroborating witness.” Prior to the rule change, medical malpractice defendants had to wait until the conclusion of their trial before appealing […]

side note: This is our annual write-up of all that happened at this year’s Medical Professional Liability Industry’s largest conference. What happens here drives changes to the medical malpractice insurance environment over the next 365 days. The Annual Conference of the Medical Professional Liability (MPL) Association took place at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, […]

In March of this year, the New Mexico Legislature passed a bipartisan update to the state’s Medical Malpractice Act just days before the end of the 2023 session. This move prevented a potential medical liability insurance crisis. Senate Bill 523, a compromise between trial lawyers and healthcare professionals, establishes a $1 million cap on medical […]

The Alaska Supreme Court overturned a long-standing law that limited damage awards for medical malpractice cases where claimants had received compensation from a collateral source, such as a health insurer. This landmark ruling, which challenges the fairness of double deduction rules in malpractice cases, has significant implications for healthcare providers and claimants alike. Here’s our […]

Stakeholders in the decades-long battle over California’s noneconomic damages cap for medical liability jury verdicts announced they have reached a compromise between healthcare, legal and consumer advocates on legislation to modernize the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). Signed into law in 1975, MICRA established a $250,000 cap on medical malpractice awards for things like […]

The 2022 Q3 #1 State Update can be found here. Missouri Considers Shrinking its Personal Injury Statute of Limitations Legislators in both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly are currently debating bills to shrink the state’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims from five to two years. Only Maine and South Dakota have longer […]

A growing number of state medical boards have been pushing back against the minority of healthcare professionals spreading dangerous COVID-19 disinformation and prescribing unproven coronavirus treatments. They are increasingly meeting resistance from conservative lawmakers. “Physicians who generate and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension […]

Iowa House Advances Bill with Hard Noneconomic Damage Cap The Labor Committee of the Iowa House of Representatives advanced legislation recently intended to combat the state’s worker shortage by reforming unemployment and tort laws. The bill is divided into two sections: one relates to unemployment insurance and the other would create a $1 million hard […]

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled her 2022-2023 Executive Budget in late 2021, which included a more than $10 billion, multi-year investment in the state’s healthcare system. It also contained two proposals that would affect the medical liability community. Executive Budget Proposal: Healthcare Initiatives and Workforce Expansion The governor’s budget proposal would fund healthcare initiatives […]