Side Note: this article from the Wall Street Journal blog reports on new challenges to caps on non-economic damages in Nevada malpractice cases.  Opponents of tort reform are arguing that the cap is per claim, not per event, a murky point in the law.  This development is cause for concern, as Nevada has had problems […]

Side Note: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has found that the state must repay $200M that it took out of the state patient compensation fund for malpractice.  This is a victory for the Wisconsin Medical Association, and for health care consumers in Wisconsin.  A solvent patient compensation fund keeps medical malpractice insurance premiums stable, and in […]

Side Note: This article from the Associated Press describes one New York judge’s unique approach to the problems of the U.S. malpractice system.  Judge McKeon call his approach “judge-directed negotiations”, and focuses on humanizing malpractice cases and patiently working with all parties to reach a fair resolution.  The New York City court system has received a grant of […]

Side note: A bill is being sponsored in New Jersey to help bring that state’s medical malpractice system under control. Hopefully, the bill would also help to reverse the increasingly problematic doctor-to-patient ratio in the state. According to the bill’s sponsor, the current gap between doctors and patients is 12%, and 60% of doctors trained […]

side note: On the surface, this looks like a harsh ruling, but it does affirm the bulletproof nature of Texas’ tort reforms. Many states would like to see their tort reforms stand up to this kind of scrutiny. Patients in Texas must file malpractice claims within 10 years of when an alleged negligence occurred and […]

We here at Cunningham Group were extremely disappointed that trial lawyers got their way in Illinois and were able to strike down the 2005 Tort Reform legislation put into place to help with the absurd insurance rates physicians have to pay for their professional medical liability. A new study conducted by the consulting firm Millman […]

The Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled that limitations on non-economic damages in med-mal lawsuits was unconstitutional. This has set in motion a huge PR campaign by all sides involved to cement their stance on the issue. The Illinois Department of Insurance< just made theirs known. Their latest news release shows that since 2005, there has […]

side note: Now that tort reform has become the oft-parroted republican talking point, we could be looking at an opportunity at the state level. So what if there is no federal tort reform? With the groundswell of conservative and independent voters seemingly convinced that medical malpractice lawsuit reform is the answer to skyrocketing healthcare costs, […]

side note: The Maryland Court of Appeals has upheld the state’s non-economic damage cap, but I’d be surprised if this is the last we hear of the case. The next likely step will be appealing to the state supreme court. This is the pattern played out in other states across the country. ANNAPOLIS — The […]