- Wild scandal of Malibu rehab-center guru charged with alleged $176 million insurance fraud has roots in the artificial conditions imposed by federal law [Chris Edwards, Cato]
- “A new Trump executive order on kidneys could save thousands of lives” [Dylan Matthews/Vox via Alex Tabarrok]
- Advocates have long campaigned to change the law so as to allow medical malpractice suits by service members against the U.S. military. Are they getting close? [Roxana Tiron and Travis J. Tritten, Bloomberg Law; James Clark/Task & Purpose] New study of defensive medicine, extrapolated from data reflecting military immunity, finds “suggestive evidence that liability immunity reduces inpatient spending by 5 percent with no measurable negative effect on patient outcomes.” [Michael Frakes and Jonathan Gruber, American Economic Journal via Scott Sumner]
- Meanwhile, said to be new record: Baltimore jury awards $229 million in claim of obstetric brain injury that Johns Hopkins says is “not supported by the evidence” [Tim Prudente, Baltimore Sun via Saurabh Jha (“My guess is that this verdict won’t reduce the frequency of C-sections in the US”)] “Best & Worst States for Doctors” [John S. Kiernan, WalletHub]
- It might not always improve outcomes in a hard science like medicine to rethink every issue through an “equity lens.” Case in point: differing male and female rates of heart disease [Anish Koka, Quillette]
- “Medical Malpractice Reform: What Works and What Doesn’t” [W. Kip Viscusi, forthcoming Denver Law Review]
Posts Tagged ‘obstetrics’
“Dad who live-streamed his son’s birth on Facebook loses in court”
Fair use, says a federal judge: “A father who live-streamed his son’s birth on Facebook and proceeded to sue for copyright infringement several media outlets that used the clips has lost his case.” [Joe Mullin, ArsTechnica]
Legal pressures on childbirth options
“Judging from Facebook, the country seems to be brimming with women who have had ‘unsatisfying experiences’ in hospitals,” writes Naomi Schaefer Riley. I’m quoted: “Our tort system works to take away women’s choices. In the name of safety we allow litigation to slice away at the range of choices women have,” whether it be choice of at-home or close-to-home options, choice of personnel, or choice of delivery method. [New York Post]
Obstetrician not liable for trying to save baby’s life
“A woman whose fetus was stillborn cannot sue the doctor who performed an emergency Caesarian section in a futile attempt to save its life, an appeals court ruled.” The unanimous five-judge panel called the plaintiff’s theory “remarkable.” [Reuters via White Coat]
Medical roundup
- View from Massachusetts General Hospital: drug shortages getting “dire” [WBUR, earlier here, here, here, etc.]
- Medical liability roundup: Sheriff arrives at Ohio doctor’s home to enforce $9.7 million award blaming lack of Caesarean section for cerebral palsy [TribToday] North Carolina legislature overrides Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto of liability limits [News & Observer via White Coat] Trial-lawyer-friendly Florida Supreme Court could strike down malpractice award limits in pending case [Orlando Business Journal]
- “Antitrust rules handcuff physician-led delivery models” [American Medical News]
- Relatedly, who was it who imagined anonymous denunciation of doctors was going to be a good idea? [Jay Hopkinson via Larry Ribstein]
- New Medicare paperwork threat to clinical trials? [Beck]
- Study: Elected coroners less likely to label deaths as suicide than appointed counterparts, family’s access to insurance benefits may be factor [Kevin B. O’Reilly, American Medical News]
- “Gee, why wouldn’t Obama administration want judges and “public interest” lawyers running its new health care law?” [Mickey Kaus on New Republic report]
June 7 roundup
- Claim: unwanted sugar in Dunkin’ Donuts coffee order sent customer into diabetic shock [AP]
- Schadenfreude aside, key theory in feds’ case against John Edwards looking mighty strained [Meck Deck/John Locke Foundation, Steve Hayward/Power Line, Ted Frank, Jacob Sullum] “They’ve indicted one former presidential candidate on one count of false statements?” [Caleb Brown] American Lawyer looks back at the law firms that backed Edwards in 2008; our coverage of his ’04 law-firm backers and of moneyman Fred Baron, and my commentary on Baron’s ethical standards;
- Edwards-reminiscent? Theory that earlier C-section would have averted cerebral palsy nets $58 M verdict [Thomas Scheffey, Connecticut Law Tribune]
- Carter Wood, key business-policy blogger, departs NAM for Business Roundtable;
- Tenderer tort-law treatment for trespassers, courtesy 3rd Restatement? [David Freddoso/Examiner, Richard Cupp via TortsProf]
- Non-shockingly, some litigation defense lawyers aren’t enthusiastic about lawsuit reform [Texas Lawyer]
- “Attorney charged with stealing clerk’s textbook from courtroom” [Baltimore Sun]
Henry Waxman and the Bendectin story
Could it be that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) — known for his extensive involvement in pharmaceutical issues over many years as a Congressional nabob, and for his long, close alliance with the plaintiff’s bar — is really unfamiliar with the story of Bendectin, one of the staple horror stories of litigation run amok in the drug field? [Carter Wood, ShopFloor] Background here, here, here, etc., etc. The whole clip, starring Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA), is worth watching: Bilbray wonders aloud whether there are any lawyers he can sue when unfounded lawsuits put needed medical technologies out of reach.
“More risk of getting sued…”
Some Florida ob-gyns turn away seriously overweight patients, who face a greater risk of complications in pregnancy [Sun-Sentinel/Palm Beach Post] More: White Coat.
“Suit: Another woman’s breast has ruined my life”
A Brooklyn woman intends to pursue further levels of judicial review after an appeals court denied her damages in a breast-feeding mix-up “because the error was discovered and fixed inside the hospital and her infant didn’t get sick or injured.” [Brooklyn Paper; another breastfeeding mixup case]
Delayed action
White Coat sums up a recent jury verdict: “Obstetrician ordered to pay $3 million to patient born with cerebral palsy … 18 years ago.” The doctor, from Glens Falls, N.Y., “has $2 million in insurance coverage and may have to cover $1 million of the verdict himself,” according to the story. Statutes of limitations in medical malpractice actions are often “tolled” (suspended) until a child reaches the age of majority, so that it is by no means unheard-of for families to file suit a decade and a half after a medical occurrence.