Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Features Recent Medical Malpractice Developments in Five States, USA

Main Category: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 01 May 2005 - 0:00 PDT


The following summarizes news coverage of state medical malpractice developments.

• Arizona: Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) on Monday signed a law that places restrictions on expert witnesses who testify in malpractice lawsuits, the Arizona Daily Star reports. Under the law, only licensed health care providers in the same specialty as the defendant can serve as expert witnesses in malpractice lawsuits. The law also allows physicians to apologize to patients without concerns that plaintiffs could use the statements as evidence in malpractice lawsuits. The Arizona Medical Association supports the law, but the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association likely will challenge the legislation as unconstitutional (Fischer, Arizona Daily Star, 4/26).
  


• Connecticut: State lawmakers, physicians and attorneys this week have met to discuss two bills that seek to reduce malpractice insurance rates for physicians in the state. One bill, which the state Judiciary Committee approved earlier this month, would require individuals who plan to file malpractice lawsuits to first obtain an expert medical opinion in support of the complaint. In addition, the legislation would reduce from 12% to 8% the interest rate on malpractice settlements paid over time and would require hospitals to follow patient safety procedures. A second bill, which the state Public Health Committee approved on Monday, would mandate mediation for malpractice complaints and would require malpractice insurers to obtain approval from the state insurance commissioner before increasing premium rates. In addition, the legislation would require individuals who plan to file malpractice lawsuits to first obtain an expert medical opinion in support of the complaint and reduce the interest rate on malpractice settlements paid over time. State House Speaker James Amann (D) said he hopes to have a compromise bill prepared for debate in the full state House within two weeks (AP/New Haven Register, 4/26).
  


• Florida: The state Senate Health Care Committee on Wednesday voted 8-1 to approve a bill that would cap damages in malpractice lawsuits against the University of Miami and six teaching hospitals in the state, the Miami Herald reports (Caputo, Miami Herald, 4/28). Under the legislation, the teaching hospitals would assume all medical liability for physicians and hospitals and would receive sovereign immunity, which would cap damages in malpractice lawsuits against them at $150,000. Jackson Memorial Hospital, a public facility, currently has sovereign immunity, but UM physicians who practice at the facility do not have immunity. The other teaching hospitals -- which are private, not-for-profit facilities -- do not have sovereign immunity, but physicians from the state universities of Florida and South Florida who practice at the hospitals have immunity. The state Agency for Health Care Administration would certify that hospitals have made efforts to reduce errors before they could receive sovereign immunity (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/4). According to the Herald, a similar bill failed in the state Legislature last year, and the current legislation faces "the same trouble because senators fear that it could unfairly rob malpractice victims of just compensation." However, the bill "might have a better shot" this year because Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and state House Speaker Allan Bense (R) support medical liability reform, the Herald reports (Miami Herald, 4/28).
  


• New Hampshire: The state House Judiciary Committee on April 26 heard testimony on a bill (SB 214) that would establish a screening panel similar to one in place in Maine that discerns valid medical malpractice cases from those of questionable merit, the Nashua Telegraph reports. The state Senate approved the bill earlier this month. The measure would require all cases to be reviewed by a panel consisting of a lawyer, a physician and a retired judge. Under the bill, a unanimous decision on the case's merit could be used during a medical malpractice trial. House members last month approved a competing measure (HB 702) that would require that only a retired judge preside at "an early stage" to determine whether the doctor was liable, the Telegraph reports. Under HB 702, the panel's findings would stay private. Both sides in a potential case would be required to take their case to a mediator before proceeding to trial (Landrigan, Nashua Telegraph, 4/27).
  


• Ohio: Ohio should implement a system to report and track medical errors, the state Medical Malpractice Commission recommended Wednesday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. The nine-member commission, which met monthly for two years to examine the issue of rising medical malpractice insurance premium rates, also recommended creating a pilot program that would establish a special medical malpractice court or court docket in order to allow the judges to "concentrate more exclusively on highly technical medical malpractice cases," the Enquirer reports. In addition, the commission said a $500,000 limit on noneconomic damages that state legislators enacted in 2003 has not been in place long enough to determine its effects. However, the panel said that further major reforms are not needed because rates have been decreasing gradually. The commission also recommended against a proposal to require malpractice lawsuits to be prescreened by a state panel. Ohio Department of Insurance Director Ann Womer Benjamin said that a medical-error reporting system could be introduced this year (Bonfield, Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/28).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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