Med Mal News

California Legislators Get Tough with State University Hospital

At a hearing in Sacramento in May, California's Senate Health Committee questioned officials of the University of California at Irvine concerning allegations that the school's liver transplant program is substandard. Berthelsen, The Los Angeles Times, 5/23/06. The State Legislature has the power to exert budgetary controls over the school to force it to act more responsibly.

Problems at the University came to light following an L.A. Times report last November that claimed numerous patients died while awaiting liver transplants, even though many viable livers were offered to the facility. The reason they were turned away? Sometimes no surgeon was available to perform the operations at the time an organ was offered for transplant.

Plaintiffs Seek to Discover Possible Hospital Medicare Claims Abuse

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Florida-based law firm of Wilkes & McHugh has filed on behalf of the federal government more in a series of lawsuits against hospitals in several states that claim the institutions impermissibly billed Medicare for treatments that became necessary only because of medical errors. Yi, The Los Angeles Times, 6/7/06. Similar lawsuits have been filed in Arkansas, California, Florida and New Jersey. According to the Times, the suits do not allege any specific instances of malpractice-related billing; plaintiffs seek only the right to investigate alleged abuses.

Decline in Incomes Blamed on Government and Private Insurers

Physicians' net incomes have fallen considerably over the last several years, with the profession seeing an overall drop of about 7% between 1995 and 2003, according to a study conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a non-profit research group in Washington, DC. Primary care physician's saw the deepest losses in inflation-adjusted income ' 10.2%. Medical specialists were largely unaffected by the trend. The study did not cite the prevalence of medical malpractice litigation as a cause for this decline; instead, its authors primarily blamed Medicare and private insurer payment rates, which have not kept pace with inflation. In response to the study, Cecil Wilson, MD, Chairman of the Board of the American Medical Association, said, “Over the next 9 years, the government plans to cut Medicare payments to physicians 37 percent, as the costs of caring for patients rises at least 22%. These cuts, coupled with these new findings on sliding physician incomes, create a troubling picture for the future of patient care.' The results of the study may be found at: http://www.hschange.com/CONTENT/851/.

Senate Holds Hearings on Med-Mal Overhauls

The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee of the U.S. Senate held a hearing on June 22 to discuss the implementation of Senate Bill 1337, which calls for investigation into alternatives to the current medical tort litigation system. The Bill, sponsored by Sens. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Max Baucus (D-MT), would allow the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to authorize funding for state demonstration projects to test the feasibility and utility of three alternative malpractice dispute resolution models: an 'early disclosure and compensation' model that calls for medical providers promptly to admit mistakes and offers them immunity from tort claims when they propose in good faith to pay compensation to the victim; the 'administrative determination of compensation' model'; and the 'special health court' model, under which judges with medical expertise would make decisions with the help of expert witnesses.

Integral to some of these proposed models is a limitation on available damages. For example, in the 'early disclosure and compensation' model, victims of medical malpractice would be entitled to economic loss damages only on a periodic basis, and such damages would be reduced by the victim's own health or accident insurance, any wage or salary continuation plan and any disability insurance income. In addition, non-economic damages could be limited by a 'payment schedule developed by the State in consultation with relevant experts and with the Secretary (of HHS).' In other words, medical malpractice compensation caps would be imposed. Says Ken Suggs, President of Association of Trial Lawyers of America, '[T]he health court proposals that feature a pre-determined schedule of damages represent nothing short of a backdoor attempt at implementing caps, a one-size-fits-all solution that runs counter to the best interests of patients who suffer painful injuries through no fault of their own.”

Anticipated Rate Decreases Not Forthcoming

An Associated Press report says six of Georgia's medical malpractice insurers have raised premium rates since Georgia passed a law in February 2005 limiting noneconomic damages to a maximum of $350,000. Bluestein, AP, Macon Telegraph, 6/16/06. The law, which was intended to lead to lower insurance rates for Georgia's doctors, is being challenged in state court.

California Legislators Get Tough with State University Hospital

At a hearing in Sacramento in May, California's Senate Health Committee questioned officials of the University of California at Irvine concerning allegations that the school's liver transplant program is substandard. Berthelsen, The Los Angeles Times, 5/23/06. The State Legislature has the power to exert budgetary controls over the school to force it to act more responsibly.

Problems at the University came to light following an L.A. Times report last November that claimed numerous patients died while awaiting liver transplants, even though many viable livers were offered to the facility. The reason they were turned away? Sometimes no surgeon was available to perform the operations at the time an organ was offered for transplant.

Plaintiffs Seek to Discover Possible Hospital Medicare Claims Abuse

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Florida-based law firm of Wilkes & McHugh has filed on behalf of the federal government more in a series of lawsuits against hospitals in several states that claim the institutions impermissibly billed Medicare for treatments that became necessary only because of medical errors. Yi, The Los Angeles Times, 6/7/06. Similar lawsuits have been filed in Arkansas, California, Florida and New Jersey. According to the Times, the suits do not allege any specific instances of malpractice-related billing; plaintiffs seek only the right to investigate alleged abuses.

Decline in Incomes Blamed on Government and Private Insurers

Physicians' net incomes have fallen considerably over the last several years, with the profession seeing an overall drop of about 7% between 1995 and 2003, according to a study conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a non-profit research group in Washington, DC. Primary care physician's saw the deepest losses in inflation-adjusted income ' 10.2%. Medical specialists were largely unaffected by the trend. The study did not cite the prevalence of medical malpractice litigation as a cause for this decline; instead, its authors primarily blamed Medicare and private insurer payment rates, which have not kept pace with inflation. In response to the study, Cecil Wilson, MD, Chairman of the Board of the American Medical Association, said, “Over the next 9 years, the government plans to cut Medicare payments to physicians 37 percent, as the costs of caring for patients rises at least 22%. These cuts, coupled with these new findings on sliding physician incomes, create a troubling picture for the future of patient care.' The results of the study may be found at: http://www.hschange.com/CONTENT/851/.

Senate Holds Hearings on Med-Mal Overhauls

The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee of the U.S. Senate held a hearing on June 22 to discuss the implementation of Senate Bill 1337, which calls for investigation into alternatives to the current medical tort litigation system. The Bill, sponsored by Sens. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Max Baucus (D-MT), would allow the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to authorize funding for state demonstration projects to test the feasibility and utility of three alternative malpractice dispute resolution models: an 'early disclosure and compensation' model that calls for medical providers promptly to admit mistakes and offers them immunity from tort claims when they propose in good faith to pay compensation to the victim; the 'administrative determination of compensation' model'; and the 'special health court' model, under which judges with medical expertise would make decisions with the help of expert witnesses.

Integral to some of these proposed models is a limitation on available damages. For example, in the 'early disclosure and compensation' model, victims of medical malpractice would be entitled to economic loss damages only on a periodic basis, and such damages would be reduced by the victim's own health or accident insurance, any wage or salary continuation plan and any disability insurance income. In addition, non-economic damages could be limited by a 'payment schedule developed by the State in consultation with relevant experts and with the Secretary (of HHS).' In other words, medical malpractice compensation caps would be imposed. Says Ken Suggs, President of Association of Trial Lawyers of America, '[T]he health court proposals that feature a pre-determined schedule of damages represent nothing short of a backdoor attempt at implementing caps, a one-size-fits-all solution that runs counter to the best interests of patients who suffer painful injuries through no fault of their own.”

Anticipated Rate Decreases Not Forthcoming

An Associated Press report says six of Georgia's medical malpractice insurers have raised premium rates since Georgia passed a law in February 2005 limiting noneconomic damages to a maximum of $350,000. Bluestein, AP, Macon Telegraph, 6/16/06. The law, which was intended to lead to lower insurance rates for Georgia's doctors, is being challenged in state court.