side note: Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen recently released a study that analyzed data from Texas, which in 2003 imposed some of the strictest liability caps in the country. While medical malpractice litigation plummeted dramatically since the caps were imposed, residents of Texas are still paying as much for healthcare as any other state in […]

side note: The below article is very interesting in the fact that Mississippi’s largest medical malpractice insurer, Medical Assurance Company of Mississippi (MACM), has gone on the record as saying the state does not need additional tort reforms. That’s right, a medical malpractice insurance company is saying no more tort reform is necessary. Specifically, the […]

I just read a good article in the Washington Post about the physician liability reform taking place in New York state. It seems that New York has realized two important things: 1) that New York physicians have some of the highest medical liability insurance premiums in the country and 2) that medical malpractice lawsuits are […]

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: 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: 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: This story is interesting because it illustrates the Catch-22 the Republican party faces with tort reform. The modern Republican party has aligned itself with libertarian and small-government, states’ rights proponents. They have also aligned themselves with the business and physician communities. The former think that the federal government has no right to impose […]

side note: New York is one of the states using funds designated by the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act to set-up alternative resolution models for medical malpractice cases. One of the more popular ideas — a specific court for medical malpractice cases — was launched in the state on Sept. 1. It will be […]

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 […]