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 determined late last year that a 1976 law limiting financial awards in medical liability lawsuits for Alaskans with health insurance is unconstitutional. The statute at issue, AS 09.55.548(b), provided that when a medical malpractice claimant’s losses have already been compensated in part by a collateral source, such as a health insurer, […]

The estate of Kathleen Valentini blames her health insurance company Group Health Inc. (GHI) and its utilization review process for her 2020 death from cancer. Attorneys for her estate argued that the insurer’s denial of prior authorization for an MRI constituted medical malpractice, a delay in diagnosis that led to the amputation of her hip, […]

The Supreme Court of North Carolina overturned a 90-year-old state court precedent that protected nurses from civil liability when they were working under a physician’s supervision. The underlying case, Connette v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, involved then three-year-old Amaya Gullatte, who suffered permanent brain damage, cerebral palsy and “profound developmental delay” after undergoing a procedure for […]

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 […]

The Florida Supreme Court approved earlier this year an amendment to the state’s rule of appellate procedure, a change that opponents say could block punitive damages in liability lawsuits. In a 6-1 decision, the justices adopted a rule change that permits a party to seek immediate appellate review of an order granting or denying a […]