Companies contribute millions, creating unique conflict BY PAIGE ST. JOHN FLORIDA TODAY Campaign finance records through December show the insurance industry — a broad category that includes life, health, auto and home insurers as well as their agents — gave nearly $24 million to candidates in the 2006 state races. Those companies are now trying […]

By KAREN GARLOCH McClatchy Newspapers Patients in the United States travel to Duke University, Johns Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic for medical care. Today some venture even farther — to far-flung places such as Costa Rica, Thailand, India and Singapore. Last year, an estimated half-million Americans traveled overseas for medical treatment. It’s a growing trend […]

http://www.kaisernetwork.org Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has reintroduced legislation (S 243) he sponsored in the 109th Congress that would limit noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits to $750,000, CQ HealthBeat reports. Ensign said that the bill would cap noneconomic damages for a single health care provider at $250,000 with a total limit of $750,000. The legislation […]

From the AMA. By William G. Plested III, MD A message to all physicians from AMA President William G. Plested III, MD. The new year is upon us and brings excitement and hope for new beginnings in all of our endeavors. It is time to review our gains and losses in 2006, and to set […]

By STEVE Bousquet http://www.sptimes.com Using the same populist rhetoric that got him elected, Gov. Charlie Crist has defined success and failure for next week’s special legislative session on property insurance. Crist’s call for lower premiums could be seen as the kind of “bumper sticker solution” that brought criticism from his campaign rivals. But by prodding […]

BY BRIAN BRUEGGEMANN News-Democrat Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis has appointed three fellow judges to serve on a new committee that will meet with doctors and study medical malpractice issues. “These judges are willing to go out into the community and talk to doctors, medical professionals and lawyers, to have a real dialogue on […]

Doctors’ defect from Shore thwarted By Deborah Gates Staff Writer Last week’s buyout of Eastern Shore Obstetrics & Gynecology by Three Lower Counties Community Services erases medical bills by several hundred dollars for Medicare patients and more than a half-million dollars for their physicians at the Phillip Morris Drive private practice that merged, effective Jan. […]

Dana Heupel http://www.sj-r.com The state’s largest medical malpractice insurer announced Monday that it will issue dividends for the first time ever and will accept new physician policyholders for the first time in four years, partly because of recent legal reforms. ISMIE Mutual Insurance Co. expects a financial surplus primarily because the number of malpractice claims […]

by Kristina Goodnough http://www.advance.uconn.edu Dr. Peter Albertsen has been named medical director of the UConn Medical Group, a 350-member multi-specialty physician practice, and James Thornton has been named director of the 224-bed John Dempsey Hospital, creating a new leadership team for the Health Center’s clinical enterprise. “Both are committed to leadership that is considerate and […]