Latest Medical Professional Liability Headlines

All the headlines from our Medical Professional Liability Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Washington Medical Malpractice Claims Decreasing

Oct 25 2007 // A medical malpractice report on closed claims data indicates that overall claims are down in Washington. This is the third medical malpractice closed claim report issued by state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. It...

De Blasio to Lead Kinloch’s Healthcare Practice

Oct 24 2007 // New York-based Kinloch Holdings, Inc., an insurance brokerage holding company focusing on middle market clients, named Bob De Blasio to lead its Healthcare Industry Practice. Prior to joining Kinloch, De Blasio was with...

ProMutual Holds Medical Liability Rates Steady in R.I., Other Northeast States

Oct 18 2007 // Rhode Island physicians will see no change in medical liability insurance rates from ProSelect Insurance Co., part of the ProMutual Group that writes in the Northeast. The company also did not file for rate changes in...

The Doctors Co. to Grow by Acquiring Calif. Medical Liability Insurer, SCPIE

Oct 17 2007 // Physician-owned liability insurer The Doctors Company is expanding its market by acquiring SCPIE Holdings Inc., a provider of healthcare liability insurance in California and Delaware. Following the merger, The Doctors...

Do Medical Malpractice Screening Panels Lower Costs or Save Time?

Oct 14 2007 // A two-year-old New Hampshire law that was supposed to speed up the processing of medical malpractice lawsuits has slowed things down instead. The law created special screening panels designed to encourage people to settle...

Evidence v. Emotion: How Medical Malpractice Screening Panels Work

Oct 12 2007 // Not all medical injuries are malpractice. “It’s not easy to tell a patient, ‘You have a harm but it’s not anybody’s fault,”‘ says Marilyn Ashcroft, a medical injury screening panel...

Maryland Malpractice Insurer Told Its $69 Million Dividend Belongs to State

Oct 9 2007 // Maryland’s largest medical malpractice insurer should return its entire $68.6 million dividend to the state, instead of the $32.5 million it has proposed as part of its exit from a subsidy program designed to lower...

News Currents

Oct 8 2007 // Ky. Gov. Fletcher wiling to compromise on medical tort reform In a blunt assessment, Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher told fellow doctors recently that chances of limiting pain-and-suffering damages in medical malpractice...

Fla. Releases Medical Malpractice Report, Favorable Trend Continues

Oct 3 2007 // A recent state-sponsored report showed a continuing trend of recovery for the Florida medical malpractice industry – an industry that experienced double-digit rate increases and lack of availability prior to the 2003...

Mo. Governor: 2006 Med Mal Report Shows Positive Results

Oct 2 2007 // The medical malpractice insurance market has stabilized following escalating medical malpractice costs that caused a downturn in the market from 1999 – 2003, according to the 2006 Medical Malpractice Report recently...

ISO Data Named Statistical Agent for Med Mal Insurance in Okla.

Sep 27 2007 // Oklahoma Commissioner of Insurance Kim Holland has designated ISO Data Inc. (ISO) as the statistical agent for medical malpractice insurance in her state, according to the commissioner’s amended Bulletin No. PC...

Ky. Gov. Proposes Compromise for Medical Malpractice Cases

Sep 25 2007 // In a blunt assessment to fellow doctors, Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher said Monday that chances of limiting pain-and-suffering damages in medical malpractice cases are bleak because of resistance from some state lawmakers....

Cutting doctors’ hours may not reduce medical errors, studies find

Sep 24 2007 // New 80-hour limit for medical residents may not be the best way to address doctor fatigue Cutting the grueling work hours of doctors-in-training had little effect on reducing patient deaths, according to two large...

La. Supreme Court: Lack of hospital evacuation plan not malpractice

Sep 24 2007 // The case concerned a “civil action against a private hospital for survival and wrongful death damages.” The Louisiana Supreme Court on Sept. 5 ruled that allegations that hospitals’ lack of evacuation...

Texas: 32 workers’ comp carriers high performing

Sep 24 2007 // In its initial assessment of workers’ compensation carriers and providers, the Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation found that 32 out of 147 insurance carriers reviewed were high...

Cutting doctors’ hours may not reduce medical errors, studies find

Sep 24 2007 // Cutting the grueling work hours of doctors-in-training had little effect on reducing patient deaths, according to two large studies. Death rates dropped in one group of patients in veterans’ hospitals but not in...

Texas Medical Liability Insurer to Lower Rates Again

Sep 19 2007 // Medical professional liability insurer Medical Protective announced it will reduce its average rates for Texas physicians by another 7.3 percent effective Jan. 1, 2008. The company said the reduction will be the fifth in...

Dirigo Will Save Maine Health System $33 Million, State Estimates

Sep 19 2007 // The state’s Dirigo Health program will save the Maine health care system $32.8 million in its third year of operation, the Maine superintendent of insurance has ruled. In a 23-page report, Bureau of Insurance Acting...

Md. Insurer Says It No Longer Needs Malpractice Premium Subsidy

Sep 19 2007 // Maryland’s largest medical malpractice insurer plans to leave a state premium subsidy program and return some of the money it has received, saying it no longer needs the subsidy to stabilize premiums for doctors...

Texas Assesses Performance of Comp Carriers, Providers

Sep 17 2007 // The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC) announced the results of the initial review of workers’ compensation insurance carriers and health care providers as part of the...