Error-Prone Doctors, Count Your Blessings
Proponents of so called “tort reform,” including many physicians, love to complain about “runaway” verdicts and “sky-rocketing” liaiblity insurance premiums. But if you live in the Netherlands, you might find yourself less bothered by such petty concerns. Why? Because its Health Minister has submitted a bill to parliament that would make medical malpractice a crime punishable by up to nine years in jail, according to RadioNetherlands.
Come to think of it, making medical malpractice a crime here in the U.S. might not be such a bad idea. There would be no need for medical malpractice liability insurance, and no need for doctors and hospitals to pay premiums of any kind. And, think about the effect it would have on patient care. Careless doctors, and they and their colleagues know who they are, would find other lines of work, rather than risk incarceration.
Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?
Your Surgery, Live on Twitter
Surgeons have tapped into the benefits of using Twitter to broadcast their findings to other doctors in reat-time, according to KevinMd. Kevin makes the point that using Twitter provides a means to share medical findings instantly with a wide audience.
But he also takes the long view, raising questions about patient privacy. Doctors will have to obtain the consent of patients whose surgeries will be “tweeted.” And though he does not invoke it specifically, what role will HIPAA authorization play in such surgeries? What about the legal angle? Will “tweets” be admissible evidence in a medical malpractice case if the surgery is performed negligently? Stay tuned, using your Blackberry, Netbook, Smartphone…
NY Court of Appeals Rules On Subrogation Rights of Health Insurers
In a decision issued today, Fasso v. Doerr, NY Slip Op 01320 (2009), New York’s Court of Appeals addressed an issue that comes up repeatedly in medical malpractice and personal injury actions. Can the plaintiff and the defendant come to a settlement agreement that extinguishes the insurer’s subrogation rights? The Court’s answer? Not without the subrogee’s consent. Click on the link for the full text of the decision.