Texas has a rule that permits presuit depositions to be taken, not just be preserve testimony but also to do discovery to determine the merits of a claim before filing suit. Professor Lonny Hoffman has written about the subject. Here is an abstract of the article: "What is the relationship…
Part of the case evaluation process is a review of appropriate literature. A literature review is not enough – you still need as expert to testify that the protocols set forth in any given piece of literature represent the standard of care. But the existence of literature on point can…
"It’s not personal responsibility I have a problem with. It is the constant threat of litigation that gets to me. And that’s why we need to cap damages in malpractice lawsuits." How many times have you heard some member of the health care industry say that? I guess that the…
SVMIC, the well-managed, physician-owned liability insurance company that insures an estimated 90% of the doctors in the state, publishes a newsletter called "Riskpoints." It is available on their website. The Fall 2006 edition of the newsletter (article in on Page 2 of the newsletter). listed the top ten jury verdicts…
The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear the following tort cases in Jackson in April: Dewayne E. Holloway v. State: Whether the Claims Commission lacked subject matter jurisdiction under Tennessee Code Annotated section 9-8-307(a)(1)(E) to adjudicate the plaintiff’s wrongful death claim. Troup v. Fischer Steel Corporation: Whether the Court of Appeals…
This is a comment from "Chris" to my post on Tuesday I agree that the main focus is economics. In general, one CV surgeon is needed for approximately every 35-50 thousand people. Now, it is impossible to do this if you are the only one as then there is constraint…
The Supreme Court has fiddled with the law of punitive damages again. More on this is in a later post.
"We have to limit the liability of negligent health care providers because doctors are leaving medicine to work at Krystal (or whatever)." That’s the non-stop babble we hear from lobbyists and pr flacks for the health care industry. Then, there are the facts. Consider this: cardiac surgeons are looking for…
Plaintiff’s lawyers need to be aware that legislation passed last year by the General Assembly requires the reporting of fees and expenses received as a result of medical negligence litigation in 2006. The reports are due at the offices of the Department of Commerce and Insurance on or before April…
In 2003 Texans passed Proposition 12. It placed caps on human losses in valid medical negligence claims and put in place other restrictions on the rights of citizens injuryed by medical negligence to seek justice. "Patients were told to expect significant improvements in health care across the state, as well…