North Carolina Medical Board takes a Great Step towards Safety and Choice.
December 24, 2009
In an unusual move towards openness, the North Carolina Medical Board recently decided that doctors should be required to tell their patients of their practice history. North Carolina has been criticized over the past few years for failing to protect its residents from habitually negligent doctors. The Board now requires its 35,000 physicians practicing or licensed to practice medicine in North Carolina to submit medical malpractice claims as well as criminal activity for publication. Consumers can go to www.ncmedboard.org and view malpractice payments, misdemeanor and felony convictions, hospital suspensions and even discipline by medical boards in other states. While a national database of malpractice payments has long existed, the public in general has not had access to the information stored there.
This new website is an extremely helpful tool for patients looking for a new doctor and also for those waiting to check the repot card, in a sense, of his/her current doctor. Careless doctors, at least in North Carolina, now have to take responsibility for their actions.
As St. Louis medical malpractice and injury lawyers, we believe that each state should have a law similar to this. You can learn more about our firm at http://farrislaw.net. You can also contact The S.E. Farris Law Firm for a Free consultation. You may reach us at 314-A-LAWYER (314.252.9937) or by clicking here.
Lawsuit Caps Don’t Save Lives- a Doctor Speaks.
October 29, 2009
Evidently, the entire medical community hasn’t bought the company line and drunk the Kool Aid- a doctor published on Salon Magazine had this to say about Malpractice lawsuit Caps:
“Tort reformers neglect the fact that malpractice reform won’t save one extra life. To make that difference, insurers, doctors and their lobbyists like the AMA need to find ways to improve patient safety. So for those who push tort reform as a panacea for a sick healthcare system, working to prevent injuries is a much more noble pursuit than writing up baseless arguments for the back pages of a newspaper. ”
Dr. Parikh is a columnist and more importantly, practicing M.D., hits the nail on the head- the notion of a flood of frivolous lawsuits is mythical. Doctors usually require research to be convinced of a point, but when the insurance companies and Chamberpot of Commerce screams ” too many lawsuits,” they are quick to pound the drum as well. Kudos to brave doctors like Parikh who actually look to facts, instead of practicing voodoo.
A Tax on Malpractice Victims is Unfair!
September 10, 2009
Let me start by saying I love my president, and support him in most things. His push for universal healthcare coverage is admirable, and long overdue in my opinion. That being said, I take issue with his recent announcement to further restrict the rights of injury victims. His recent speech on the issue mentioned limiting medical malpractice lawsuits as a point in his plan. This is an offer of compromise, no doubt, aimed at getting more support for his plan from the medical community. But it is just plain unfair to those tho have suffered due to medical negligence, and will do little to contain costs.
The Missouri Department of Insurance noted that malpractice claims are at a ten year low-and malpractice insurers recorded a profit for the fifth year in a row. This hardly seems like a crisis in malpractice. To take away the right to recover from those hurt by malpractice will do nothing to benefit cost, and devastate those already suffering! It amounts to a tax on malpractice victims, and is unfair.
The folks at the Center for Justice and Democracy say it better:
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S MEDICAL MALPRACTICE PROPOSAL WILL
HURT PATIENTS AND DUMP MORE COSTS ON TAXPAYERS
Statement by Joanne Doroshow, Executive Director, Center for Justice & Democracy, on President Obama’s medical malpractice proposal:
The Center for Justice & Democracy strongly opposes President Obama’s plan to implement Bush Administration measures to limit the legal rights of severely injured patients, which has become part of the health care discussion apparently as a bargaining chip to reduce Republican opposition to much needed health care reform.
Any scheme that places undue burdens on injured patients or requires that cases be heard in informal settings tilt the legal playing field heavily in favor of insurance companies that represent health care providers and are fundamentally unfair.
Proposals that ends up shielding unsafe hospitals or grossly negligent doctors from accountability by intruding upon the legal system are terrible public policy. Medical errors are at epidemic levels and this proposal will not only fail to fully compensate catastrophically injured patients, but also will undermine restraints the civil justice system currently imposes on dangerous misconduct. Reducing legal accountability will lead to more errors and system costs.
Moreover, such provisions would dump even more costs on taxpayers. They would not eliminate death and injuries but merely shift costs of caring for malpractice victims from perpetrators of malpractice to hard-pressed state Medicaid systems, for which state and federal taxpayers share the costs.
The arguments used to support liability restrictions are unfounded. Indeed, according to an analysis of the insurance industry’s own data by Americans for Insurance Reform, medical malpractice insurance claims and premiums have both been trending downward for years. Premiums and claims are each less than one percent of health care costs.
Clearly, we need to look for ways to insure everyone while improving the quality of health care in our country by reducing preventable medical errors. The best way to reduce malpractice deaths, injuries, claims and lawsuits is to reduce medical malpractice.
Let your Senator and Congress Person know how you feel about this- your voice is important!