Clear Search
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2 MIN READ

California damages cap under the MICRAscope

Physicians in California could lose the valuable protections of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) if a case before a state court of appeal is reversed. The case examines whether the state’s cap on non-economic damages violates the right of trial by jury and equal protection.

Sustainability
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2 MIN READ

Case tackles qualifications for expert witness testimony

The subject of expert witness testimony is up for debate in a case before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In Motorola v. Murray, the issue now before the court is the standards for qualifications of expert witnesses who testify on scientific issues.

Sustainability
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2 MIN READ

State high court to rule on physicians' duty of care

Do physicians owe a duty of care to someone other than their patients? This question is at the center of a case before the New York Court of Appeals after a bus driver was injured in a head-on collision with a car driven by a recently discharged patient.

Sustainability
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2 MIN READ

Ruling could restrict access to psychiatric care

Mental health parity is at the center of a case between physicians and Anthem, Inc., one of the largest health insurers in the country. The complaint alleged that Anthem reimbursed psychiatrists less than non-psychiatric physicians who provided comparable medical services.

Access to Care
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2 MIN READ

Protected patient information at stake in Florida case

Data collected in patient safety systems comes with confidentiality protections that encourage physicians to share patient safety information without fear of liability—but a Florida case could impede efforts to improve patient safety, jeopardizing these protections.

HIPAA
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2 MIN READ

Medical staff autonomy upheld in state supreme court ruling

A decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld important tenets of medical staff self-governance and authority in patient care that physicians have been fighting for in that state since 2012.

Scope of Practice
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2 MIN READ

Court case places patient-physician relationship in the balance

Two essential elements of medical practice--patient privacy and the patient-physician relationship--are at stake in a case before a federal appeals court that involves a state PDMP and surveillance by the DEA.

HIPAA
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3 MIN READ

Physician medical liability funds protected from state raids

Five years after the state government took $100 million from a special medical liability fund in Pennsylvania, a settlement has been reached that provides key protections against future diversion and returns $200 million in overpayments to physicians and other health care providers.

Sustainability
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1 MIN READ

State high court rules for patient safety in liability case

In Allred v. Saunders, the Utah Supreme Court weighed in on an earlier court ruling that required a physician’s peer review files to be produced as evidence in determining medical liability, contrary to a law passed in 2012 that explicitly protects that information in order to preserve the integrity of peer review proceedings.

Sustainability