New York Medical Malpractice

Coming off of the heels of New York State raising medical malpractice premiums by 15%, there are rumors that they may now be surcharged up to $50,000 and have an additional increase in their premiums by 10-15%. Physicians are concerned that many doctors will have to close their doors and leave patients without any care if medical malpractice rates and surcharges continue to rise.

This news is still being considered just a rumor, but a recent meeting of more than 100 physicians at Memorial Hospital and St. Charles Hospital think that it may become reality.

There are suggestions from state officials that the surcharge and rate increase are only a possibility, and that physicians are reacting to rumor and speculation. But while the findings of the task force have been presented to Spitzer, they have not yet been released.

For now, only time will tell.

Full Story

The Journal of Urology recently published a study that suggests that urologists could cut their medical malpractice risk by referring difficult cases. They surveyed 20 years of data from a liability insurance company in New York.

The new study finds those strategies are useless against one of the most common risks: missed or delayed diagnoses. A survey of 469 successful lawsuits against New York urologists found 15% were based on alleged missed diagnoses. Many of those claims had nothing to do with urology.

Furthermore, it was discovered that office-based urologists may incur a much higher risk of medical malpractice. The researchers concluded:

“Failure to diagnose confers a malpractice risk, and it exists in the office setting…It is unlikely that any practicing urologist would be immune to such risk if he or she shows up to work.”

Full Story

Medical malpractice cases in Long Island have sparked a call for a ban on multi-dose vials. Dr. Harvey Finkelstein of Dix Hills was highlighted as the person having the most malpractice settlements than any other pain-management specialist.

The health department was spotlighted in November after it was revealed it waited three years before advising the public that Finkelstein reused syringes in multidose vials, exposing patients to blood-borne pathogen infections such as hepatitis B and C and HIV/AIDS because of shoddy injection practices. The state Department of Health contacted nearly 11,000 of Finkelstein’s patients, urging them to be tested. Because of his practices, one patient contracted hepatitis C; six other patients tested positive for hepatitis B and six more for hepatitis C. Unbelievable that Finkelstein—who has far more malpractice settlements than any other pain-management specialist on Long Island and, in 1995, was sued, on average, once or twice yearly—remained under the radar for so long.

Full Story

It’s true, Google wants your medical records. Google isn’t covered by HIPAA, which means it’s a lot easier for the “powers that be” to get a hold of your personal medical records.

While it’s been rumored for years, Google is finally revealing a little bit about its Google Health plans, as it’s opening up the service to a few thousand patients of the Cleveland Clinic. Those patients will be turning over their medical records to Google which, of course, is raising security and privacy concerns. It probably doesn’t help that the news of this is breaking at about the same time as reports that Google accidentally exposed Gmail accounts in Kuwait. Exposing emails is bad enough, but your health records? Obviously, one hopes that Google is doing everything possible to protect the info, but as the AP report points out, Google is not covered by HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act,), meaning that even under the best intentions of Google, handing your records over to the company could make them easier for the government or legal adversaries to get at those records, since they’ve left the bounds of protected communication between a doctor and patient.

(Via Techdirt.)

Technorati Tags:
hippa, technology, new york lawsuit

In case you missed this report a few months ago, the medical malpractice cost for New York continues to climb.

Medical malpractice cases cost the city $155.2 million in 2006, up 6% from the $145.9 million of the year before, according to a claims report published yesterday by the city comptroller’s office.

Even as costs increased, they fell short of the high of $195.4 million in 2003. The number of malpractice claims filed also dropped in 2006, to 699, the lowest number in a decade and 15% less than some 820 claims filed in 2005.

Settlements among the city’s 11 public hospitals increased to $152 million in 2006, up 20% from $126.5 million in 2005.

So, which hospital is the worst offender? It appears that Kings County Hospital has the most claims.

The hospital with the most malpractice claims filed against it was Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, which had 98 claims filed against it in 2006, up from 93 the year before. Kings County also cost the city the most in settlements. The city paid $33.6 million in settlements there in 2006, up from $26.6 million in 2005.

Technorati Tags:
medical malpractice, medical lawsuit, new york law