State Tort Reforms and Hospital Malpractice Costs

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles R. Ellington ◽  
Martey Dodoo ◽  
Robert Phillips ◽  
Ronald Szabat ◽  
Larry Green ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Malpractice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Medical Liability ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Crossover Effect ◽  
Malpractice Insurance ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Care Costs ◽  
Economic Damages

Medical liability remains a major concern among U.S. physicians, and according to the American Medical Association (AMA) the United States is currently experiencing its third fullblown medical liability crisis with many physicians limiting their practices as a result of rising malpractice costs. The AMA, many in the medical community, and several prominent politicians including former president George W. Bush have called for medical liability reform including caps on non-economic damages. Some researchers argue that the medical liability crisis has been overdrawn. Several studies have shown that the vast majority of patients injured through medical malpractice do not sue, that the insurance cycle is likely major contributor to rising malpractice insurance premiums, and that defensive medicine likely plays a minor role in rising health care costs. Further, evidence shows that malpractice damage caps may lead to a crossover effect where juries increase the amount of economic damages they award to offset limitations in non-economic damages available.

scholarly journals The effect of medical malpractice liability on rate of referrals received by specialist physicians

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Xu ◽  
Stephen J. Spurr ◽  
Bin Nan ◽  
A. Mark Fendrick
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Medical Malpractice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Specialist Care ◽  
Malpractice Insurance ◽  
Malpractice Claims ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Referral Behavior ◽  
Medical Malpractice Insurance ◽  
Economic Damages

AbstractUsing nationally representative data from the United States, this paper analyzed the effect of a state's medical malpractice environment on referral visits received by specialist physicians. The analytic sample included 12,839 ambulatory visits to specialist care doctors in office-based settings in the United States during 2003–2007. Whether the patient was referred for the visit was examined for its association with the state's malpractice environment, assessed by the frequency and severity of paid medical malpractice claims, medical malpractice insurance premiums and an indicator for whether the state had a cap on non-economic damages. After accounting for potential confounders such as economic or professional incentives within practices, the analysis showed that statutory caps on non-economic damages of $250,000 were significantly associated with lower likelihood of a specialist receiving referrals, suggesting a potential impact of a state's medical malpractice environment on physicians’ referral behavior.

The Anti-Patient Psychology of Health Courts: Prescriptions from a Lawyer-Physician

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freeman L. Farrow
Keyword(s):  
Medical Malpractice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Specialized Knowledge ◽  
Malpractice Litigation ◽  
Insurance Premiums ◽  
Malpractice Insurance ◽  
Malpractice Claims ◽  
Practice Of Medicine ◽  
Tort System ◽  
Medical Malpractice Insurance

Critics of the current medical malpractice tort system claim that adjudication of malpractice claims before generalist judges and lay juries contributes to rising costs of medical malpractice insurance premiums and medical care. They claim that properly deciding issues in this realm requires specialized knowledge of medicine and medical technology that juries, and even judges of general jurisdiction, do not possess. One lobbying group alleges there is a continuing medical malpractice litigation crisis in the United States, evidenced by increasing medical costs, deaths from needless medical errors, departure of physicians from the practice of medicine due to increasing medical malpractice insurance premiums, and random medical justice in medical malpractice cases. Whether there is a direct, causal correlation between the increasing cost of medical malpractice insurance premiums and medical malpractice litigation is debatable.

scholarly journals An Overview of Medical Malpractice Law in the United States Including Legislative and the Health Care Industry’s Responses to Increased Claims

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-163
Author(s):  
Thomas Allan Heller
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Medical Malpractice ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Malpractice Insurance ◽  
Malpractice Claims ◽  
Medical Malpractice Claims

Medical Malpractice claims are frequently asserted in the United States. At various time and places, an extraordinarily high number of claims and payouts led to what some have called medical malpractice crises. Consequently, in some geographical locations physicians either could not purchase malpractice insurance as carriers withdrew from the market, or, insurance became increasingly expensive and the overall costs associated with the delivery of health care continued to rise. Other undesirable consequences of these crises included a shortage of qualified physicians in certain parts of the country. Many of the states responded to these problems legislatively through a long series of tort reform measures. The health care industry itself has evolved in numerous ways. In particular, many health care providers have turned away from traditional private insurance models to self-insured models such as captives. Further, the industry has continued to consolidate, with fewer, but larger hospitals and clinics, and with an increasing number of physicians employed directly by hospitals and large clinics. The results of all of these changes have had mixed results.

scholarly journals The Global Ascendency of OXA-48-Type Carbapenemases

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann D. D. Pitout ◽  
Gisele Peirano ◽  
Marleen M. Kock ◽  
Kathy-Anne Strydom ◽  
Yasufumi Matsumura
Keyword(s):  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
E Coli ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Phenotypic Methods ◽  
A Minor

SUMMARY Surveillance studies have shown that OXA-48-like carbapenemases are the most common carbapenemases in Enterobacterales in certain regions of the world and are being introduced on a regular basis into regions of nonendemicity, where they are responsible for nosocomial outbreaks. OXA-48, OXA-181, OXA-232, OXA-204, OXA-162, and OXA-244, in that order, are the most common enzymes identified among the OXA-48-like carbapenemase group. OXA-48 is associated with different Tn1999 variants on IncL plasmids and is endemic in North Africa and the Middle East. OXA-162 and OXA-244 are derivatives of OXA-48 and are present in Europe. OXA-181 and OXA-232 are associated with ISEcp1, Tn2013 on ColE2, and IncX3 types of plasmids and are endemic in the Indian subcontinent (e.g., India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) and certain sub-Saharan African countries. Overall, clonal dissemination plays a minor role in the spread of OXA-48-like carbapenemases, but certain high-risk clones (e.g., Klebsiella pneumoniae sequence type 147 [ST147], ST307, ST15, and ST14 and Escherichia coli ST38 and ST410) have been associated with the global dispersion of OXA-48, OXA-181, OXA-232, and OXA-204. Chromosomal integration of blaOXA-48 within Tn6237 occurred among E. coli ST38 isolates, especially in the United Kingdom. The detection of Enterobacterales with OXA-48-like enzymes using phenotypic methods has improved recently but remains challenging for clinical laboratories in regions of nonendemicity. Identification of the specific type of OXA-48-like enzyme requires sequencing of the corresponding genes. Bacteria (especially K. pneumoniae and E. coli) with blaOXA-48, blaOXA-181, and blaOXA-232 are emerging in different parts of the world and are most likely underreported due to problems with the laboratory detection of these enzymes. The medical community should be aware of the looming threat that is posed by bacteria with OXA-48-like carbapenemases.

scholarly journals The Impact of Defense Expenses in Medical Malpractice Claims

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron E. Carroll ◽  
Parul Divya Parikh ◽  
Jennifer L. Buddenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Medical Malpractice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Professional ◽  
Liability Insurance ◽  
Medical Liability ◽  
Professional Liability ◽  
Medical Specialties ◽  
Insurance Premiums ◽  
Malpractice Claims ◽  
The Impact

Whenever health care reform is debated, the state of the medical professional liability (MPL) system (i.e., medical malpractice system) in the United States re-emerges as an issue of importance. What exactly is broken with the MPL system and what the implications are is a point of contention among different stakeholder groups. Recent data demonstrate that medical liability premiums have been improving in recent years and the majority of premiums remained flat in 2010. General agreement still exists, however, that medical professional liability insurance premiums have become unaffordable for many physicians, and coverage has become less available, especially for certain medical specialties and in specific areas of the country.Multiple factors go into the determination of medical professional liability insurance premiums including return on investments, reinsurance costs, claims frequency, average amount paid out on malpractice claims, defense expenses, and administrative costs such as underwriting expense.

Political Science in the United States in Wartime

1947 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 978-989
Author(s):  
Carl J. Friedrich
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
The United States ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Special Schools ◽  
European Universities ◽  
A Minor

The field known as “political science” is in many ways a peculiarly American discipline. Although it plays a minor rôle in some European universities, and none in the rest, this particular field of the social sciences is of great importance in the United States. Besides a mounting interest in the study of government on the undergraduate level in this country, there has been a steady growth of professional training for the public service in special schools of public administration and in international affairs and diplomacy, both closely related to and usually staffed in part at least by political scientists.To the non-American inquiring as to the reason for this special development, no exhaustive answer can be given at the present time. But mention may be made of a number of factors which have contributed to this phenomenal and persistent growth. In the first place, political science, backed by the ancient tradition of Aristotle's Politics, has a central appeal to young men and women seeking an integrated and over-all approach to the “great society” of a free and intensely democratic people. The pride Americans used to take in their political “institutions,” which was noted by many a foreign traveller, has in this age of democratic disillusionment found an uneasy refuge in academic study of the history of political thought and institutions. The well-known practical, or rather activist, tendency of American scholars has turned many an economist, such as John R. Commons, to legislative halls and thus has pushed the problems of government into the center of attention. Historians with similar propensities, like Charles A. Beard, came to enrich the work of political science.

Building on #MeToo and #MeNoMore: Devising a framework to examine sexual violence in Australian music journalism

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Baker ◽  
Katrina Williams
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Electronic Dance Music ◽  
Music Journalism ◽  
Film Producer ◽  
A Minor

Allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, co-owner of US entertainment company Miramax Films, which led to the revitalized #MeToo movement of October 2017, gave global recognition to the sexual violence (sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, assault and rape) that women experience in the creative industries. As a spin-off, the #MeNoMore campaign in December 2017 resulted in more than 400 women working in the Australian music industry speaking out against similar behavior. Despite having a reputation for sexual violence, the local music press played a minor role in this hashtag development, claiming that its practices are tied to radical, liberal and progressive values. In the post-Weinstein, #MeToo and #MeNoMore era, this contradiction signifies that the Australian music press is fertile ground for a feminist investigation. However, to date minimal local research has examined the link between sexual violence and music journalism. As a literature review to a larger empirical case study, this article draws on a critical discourse analysis from the post-feminist wave of media research into rockism, poptimism, punk, rap, hip hop, dubstep and electronic dance music genres, mainly conducted in the United States and United Kingdom. Derived from this analysis, the article argues that there are four framing techniques associated with music journalism practice in Australia: gendered music press, a masculine attitude towards music reporting, gendered musical tastes and gendered sexual harassment.

Prevalence of Spondylosis Deformans in Tailed Versus Tail-Docked Rottweilers

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 301-305
Author(s):  
Amber Ihrke ◽  
Pedro Riviera ◽  
Rosemary LoGuidice ◽  
Michelle Guiffrida ◽  
Kathleen Neforos
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Odds Ratio ◽  
The United States ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Routine Procedure ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Tail Docking ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Spondylosis Deformans ◽  
Age And Sex

ABSTRACT Tail docking is a routine procedure for rottweilers in the United States and Canada. A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in tailed (n = 25) and docked (n = 39) rottweilers ≥5 yr old to compare prevalence and severity of spondylosis deformans in the lumbar spine between groups. The prevalence of spondylosis was 68.0% in tailed dogs and 76.9% in docked dogs, which was not significantly different (P = .563). Distribution of spondylosis severity did not significantly differ between tailed and docked dogs (P = .102). Logistic regression found moderate to severe spondylosis was associated with age and sex. Females were three times at greater risk than males (odds ratio 3.10, 95% confidence interval 1.060–9.08; P = .039). Risk increased 1.4 times for each additional year (odds ratio 1.43, 95% confidence interval 1.02–1.99, P = .036). Tail docking may not impact or only play a minor role in spondylosis deformans in rottweilers.

The Medical Review Panel in Louisiana Neurosurgery and Beyond

Neurosurgery ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. E992-E1001
Author(s):  
Jennifer Kosty ◽  
Bowen Jiang ◽  
Devon C LeFever ◽  
Jared R Brougham ◽  
Frederick White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Medical Malpractice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Liability ◽  
Medical Review ◽  
Review Panel ◽  
The Past ◽  
Malpractice Claims ◽  
States Data ◽  
Medical Malpractice Claims

Abstract For the past several decades, medical malpractice claims in the state of Louisiana have been screened by a pretrial medical review panel (MRP). Composed of 3 physicians and 1 attorney, these panels are a method of filtering nonmeritorious lawsuits while expediting creditable claims. Currently, 14 jurisdictions in the United States require medical liability/malpractice cases be heard by an MRP or screening panel prior to trial. In this article, we review the MRP process in Louisiana and compare it to those in other states. Data are presented for the past 10 yr of malpractice claims in Louisiana with an emphasis on the neurosurgery specialty. Finally, the benefits and challenges of pretrial screening panels are discussed.

scholarly journals Florida Predatory Stink Bug (unofficial common name), Euthyrhynchus floridanus (Linnaeus) (Insecta: Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

EDIS ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 2003 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank W. Mead ◽  
David B. Richman
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Anticarsia Gemmatalis ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Stink Bug ◽  
Velvetbean Caterpillar ◽  
Diaprepes Abbreviatus ◽  
Southern Green Stink Bug ◽  
Leptinotarsa Decemlineata Say ◽  
Green Stink Bug ◽  
A Minor

The predatory stink bug, Euthyrhynchus floridanus (Linnaeus), is considered a beneficial insect because most of its prey consists of plant-damaging bugs, beetles, and caterpillars. This stink bug is primarily a Neotropical species that ranges into southeastern quarter of the United States. It seldom plays more than a minor role in the natural control of insects in Florida, but its prey includes such economic species as southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (Linnaeus); orangedog, Papilio cresphontes Cramer; velvetbean caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner; Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say); West Indian sugarcane rootstalk borer, Diaprepes abbreviatus (Linnaeus), and others. This document is EENY-157 (originally published as DPI Entomology Circulars 174 and 242), one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: September 2000.  EENY157/IN314: Florida Predatory Stink Bug (unofficial common name), Euthyrhynchus floridanus (Linnaeus) (Insecta: Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) (ufl.edu)

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