Medical Malpractice

While in theory, doctors say that they would reveal medical errors to patients, a new study has found that most don't actually do so when they have the chance. The study, done by the University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine, surveyed faculty physicians, residents and medical students at academic medical centers to find out what factors affected whether physicians disclosed errors. Of the 538 respondents, 97 percent said that they'd disclose minor errors and 93 percent said they'd …

If they're big enough to carry the costs, it's making increasing sense for physician groups to create their own captive medical malpractice insurer. A growing number are looking at pooling their malpractice premiums, creating a new med mal "risk retention" insurer which they can control. The groups, which rely on the Federal Liability Risk Retention Act, are fighting to control an aspect of their business which has been a tremendous source of pain the past.

One recent example comes …

Doctors and hospital industry groups are fuming over a bill working its way through the Illinois legislature which would expand consumers' ability to sue for wrongful death damages. The bill would allow family members of patients who die to seek compensation for "grief, sorrow and mental anguish" in addition to other forms of damages. The bill, which would extend to both accidental deaths and medical malpractice, has ignited a major controversy in the state, which is still recovering from …

A new research study had concluded that physicians tend to do better than patients when medical malpractice cases go court. The study, which was done by University of Missouri-Columbia law professor Philip Peters, examined 17 years of malpractice cases. He found that while juries may still side with plaintiffs when a doctor is clearly negligent, if evidence is unclear juries tend to give doctors the "benefit of the doubt." Part of the reason is that doctors tend to be able to mount …

Officials at University of California Irvine Medical Center are again facing the threat of a malpractice lawsuit resulting from the closure of its liver transplant program. The plaintiff, Elodie Irvine, originally sued UCI in 2004 for negligence and fraud. She had brought the suit after waiting four years for a transplant, then getting one in two months at another facility. The suit led to a federal investigation of the UCI transplant program, and ultimately, decertification of the …

Lawmakers in nine states are considering measures which would allow physicians to apologize for mistakes without fearing that their apology would be used against them in a malpractice suit. According to American Medical Association research, at least 27 other states have already passed such laws in recent times. The laws are designed to encourage doctors to explain what happened when something goes wrong, inform patients of their options and apologize. Right now, many doctors are warned …

A new analysis of medical malpractice claims in seven states has concluded that only a small percentage of claimants ended up with cash--though nearly a fifth of cash-generating claims led to payments of $1 million or more. It also found that the costs tended to be much lower if the case never went to trial.

The study, which was done by the U.S. Department of Justice, looked at medical malpractice suits in Illinois, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada and Texas from …

A Kaiser transplant surgeon is under investigation due to allegations that he purposely hastened a patient's death in order to harvest his organs for transplants. San Luis Obispo police and the Medical Board of California are examining whether Dr. Hootan Roozrokh gave high doses of a strong painkiller to Ruben Navarro, the patient. Another surgeon--Dr. Arturo Martinez--is also under investigation.

Navarro was in a long-term care facility when he was found unresponsive and taken to …

Virgina's Supreme Court is considering whether doctors are immune from medical malpractice suits that stem from charity care they provided at Virginia's three teaching hospitals. The Court is being asked to rule on two cases--one in which a child was permanently injured and another in which a child died as a result of malpractice. Lawyers for the victims maintain that doctors shouldn't be exempt from malpractice suits. "The public should be offended that well-paid physicians treating …

President Bush continued his battle this week to initiate reform of medical malpractice law, arguing in Chicago that "frivolous lawsuits" are responsible for high healthcare costs. Bush has been a major advocate of tort reform throughout his presidency, but of late, begun to reframe the matter, also suggesting that med mal suits hold back U.S. economic growth. However, despite his advocacy, political observers suggest that this time he's pretty much out of luck. With Democrats in charge …