GAO Reports Look at Med-Mal Insurance Crisis
September 01, 2003
In the last 2 months, the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued two reports detailing the findings of its studies into the medical malpractice insurance crisis and its effects on medical care. The studies were conducted at the request of Congress, which wanted to learn what the root causes of the rising medical malpractice insurance premiums were and what effects these rising costs were having on the public's access to health care. With this information, it intends to consider legislation similar to some states' tort reform laws.
Verdicts
September 01, 2003
The latest cases of interest to your practice.
Med Mal News
September 01, 2003
The latest news of interest to your practice.
Around The Firms
September 01, 2003
Attorney movement among major law firms and corporations.
Are Law Firm 'Partners' Really 'Employees'?
August 28, 2003
Law firm management often assumes that some attorneys, such as partners, shareholders and of counsels, are not covered by various civil rights statutes, <i>eg</i>, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). As firms which have been sued by such attorneys or which have faced broad Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigations have learned, however, such assumptions are often not well founded.
Verdicts
August 27, 2003
Recent cases of importance to your practice.
State News
August 27, 2003
Interesting cases from around the country.
Why the <i>Mejia </i>Opinion Is Troubling
August 27, 2003
Contrary to the <i>Mejia</i> court's analysis, patients do not generally choose an emergency room in reliance on any belief about the doctors' employment or agency relationship with the hospital. They may choose the hospital based on terms of their insurance plan, or the hospital's geographic location. But nobody can seriously suggest that if a patient were confronted with a neon sign in the hospital waiting room declaring the doctors to be independent contractors whose conduct is not attributable to the hospital, he or she would turn around and look elsewhere to find a hospital with employee doctors.
Should You Take the Case?
August 27, 2003
As the federal government and more and more states move toward capping non-economic damages in medical-malpractice actions, actual economic damages take on a new importance: Will economic damages by themselves, absent a large award for pain and suffering, justify taking a case that may cost $100,000 or more to present?
'Fear of Cancer': A Med Mal Nightmare?
August 27, 2003
Can fear of cancer be litigated? And if so, what is the potential impact on the med mal community? On March 10 the U.S. Supreme Court announced a decision in <i>Norfolk and Western Railway Co. v. Ayers</i>, 123 S.Ct. 1210 (2003), in which it ruled by a five to four vote that railway workers who suffer from asbestosis would be allowed to recover damages for fear of asbestos-related cancer. Rail-worker plaintiffs would still bear the burden of proof that their fear was 'genuine and serious,' but the Supreme Court did not specify how such evidence would be demonstrated or refuted. This article considers whether the <i>Ayers decision</i> could extend to medical malpractice litigation.
