Governor Cuomo of New York has proposed to cap medical malpractice awards at $250,000. A New York legislator, Deborah Glick, has submitted a bill capping hospital CEO salaries at $250,000 also. If $250,000 is enough to cover a lifetime for a medical error, according to Ms. Glick, then it should be enough for a CEO's yearly salary. What a refreshing idea! … [Read more...]
Many Doctors Disciplined But Escape Licensing Action
March 18, 2011 by
According to the National Practitioner Data Bank, from 1990 to 2009, over 10,000 doctors had clinical privilege actions. This means restriction or revocation of their privileges. However, almost 6000 of these doctors had no action taken against them by their state licensing board. Almost 2000 of these doctors had the most serious violations. The state licensing boards are sleeping on the switch. To improve medical care, let's weed out the bad doctors, not worry about tort deform which takes away patients' rights. For more information … [Read more...]
Less Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Being Filed in Pennsylvania
March 17, 2011 by
According to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, in 2009 there were only 1,533 medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania. This represents a 42 percent decline in medical malpractice lawsuits in Pennsylvania since 2000. … [Read more...]
Court Orders Pennsylvania to Fund Malpractice Assessment Account
April 21, 2010 by
In Pennsylvania, a medical professional fund, known as the MCARE Fund, has been established. This Fund is used to pay malpractice claims against medical providers in excess of their basic insurance coverage. The MCARE Fund is funded by an assessment on each participating healthcare provider. In 2003, Pennsylvania enacted an abatement law to reduce or eliminate MCARE providers’ required contributions to the MCARE Fund. To fund the abatement program, Pennsylvania established a special account known as the HCPR Account. The HCPR Account was, in turn, funded by increased cigarette taxes and a traffic violation … [Read more...]
Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Filings Decrease Dramatically
April 8, 2010 by
From 2003 to 2008, lawsuits for medical malpractice cases in Pennsylvania decreased 37% to 41% from the average number of cases filed in 2000 to 2002. This information is from statistics compiled by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Also according to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, for 2008, the most recent year available, the doctor, hospital or other medical provider won in over 81% of the medical malpractice lawsuits filed. Here in western Pennsylvania, the medical providers also won the malpractice lawsuits most of the time. For instance, in Allegheny County the jury found in favor of the medical provider in 14 … [Read more...]
