New York Medical Malpractice

There is relief coming for doctors who are seeking a respite from the soaring medical malpractice rates in New York state. A press release on the New York state website declares “Governor Patterson announces one-year freeze on medical malpractice rates for physicians in New York state”. To read the full article, visit NY.gov.

Is defensive medicine becoming a real issue in New York state and elsewhere? Doctors across the country are becoming increasingly worried about being sued and therefore are practicing what many are calling “defensive medicine”, meaning they order a myriad of tests that may not even be needed just to rule out issues so that they do not come back down the road, even if that means ordering tests that are unneeded.

Doctors say they are in a difficult position because they want to protect themselves against legal vulnerabilities, and at the same time not over-prescribe expensive medical testing such as MRIs and CAT scans, which insurers monitor for unnecessary usage.

‘Sometimes we end up being in a position where we feel like we have to do things a little more defensively than would be ideal in the best of all possible worlds,’ said

Dr. [Michael] Rosenberg, the president of the Medical Society of the State of New York. ‘Where that comes in is the test that should be ordered every 12 months but is ordered every six months, or the antibiotic [prescribed even though] maybe you’d ideally wait a day and see if it is necessary.

Is there a solution to this problem? Or as our society becomes more and more litigious, will the problem worsen?

A new medical malpractice bill was signed by New York state governor David Patterson recently that allows the Department of Health to make doctors who have been charged with malpractice in the past known to the public. From the blog at Trolman, Glaser and Lichtman:

Prompted in part by Long Island doctor Harvey Finkelstein, who has been charged in the past with 11 malpractice suits, the law will enable the public to make an informed decision when choosing a doctor to ensure the physician has a clean record. Sponsored by state senator Kemp Hannon of Garden City, who is chairman of the Senate health committee, the bill will also allow the Office of Professional Medical Conduct to use any past medical malpractice indiscretions by a doctor to begin misconduct probes.

Is there any avenue of legalities outside of medical malpractice should you need to pursue it? A man in Bangor, Maine has filed a lawsuit against Mayo Regional Hospital not for medical malpractice, but under a labor law.

[Robert] Olszewski claims he went to the hospital’s emergency room twice within 17 hours on Aug. 6, 2007, for pain in his chest, headache and fever and was not given appropriate medical screening. He later went to a Bangor hospital where he was admitted for a mild heart attack.

Attorney Michael J. Waxman of Portland, who is representing Olszewski, said the lawsuit is not a medical malpractice suit, per se, but triggers a federal statute called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. The labor act initially was passed as an anti-dumping statute since hospitals were then turning away people who didn’t have insurance or money, Waxman said Thursday. When someone goes to the emergency room, the hospital must do an appropriate medical screening to determine whether the person is in fact in an emergency condition. If so, the patient cannot be transferred until stabilized, he said.

This is a great situation when it is very helpful to know what your rights are. If you go to an emergency room seeking treatment, you must be treated.

Many factors, one of them being medial malpractice insurance rates, are sending new doctors away from primary practice and towards specialties, leaving a shortage of primary physicians in this country. The National Association of Community Health Centers reports on the shortage, especially in rural areas, is leading us towards a medical crisis.

"This is the unfortunate reality of our health care system. It’s an example of how the market triumphs over public policy," said Dan Hawkins, the association’s senior vice president of programs and policy and one of the authors of the report. "Even if universal health care comes into play tomorrow, not everyone would have access to a health care provider."

Although many of these people are insured, 56 million Americans do not have a regular source of health care due to shortages of physicians in their communities, according to the online report. Hawkins said that this translates to poorer health outcomes and less coordinated care for this group.

The study estimates that, in order to provide services to these medically disenfranchised Americans as well as current patients, health centers will need up to 60,000 more primary care professionals, and up to 44,500 additional nurses.

A big issue for many doctors deciding on their field of practice out of medical school is how they are going to pay off their education debts. With primary physicians making far less than those in specialties, and with medical malpractice rates skyrocketing along with other debts, the decision for some is easy. What will it take to have more med students choose primary practice?

Curious about the difference between civil and criminal medical malpractice? An article for OBGManagement.com highlights the differences between the two and which might apply in your case.

Happily, criminal prosecutions for malpractice are rare in the United States—far, far less common than civil suits for malpractice. Nevertheless, criminal prosecutions do occur and seem to be increasingly frequent in recent years. Consider that, between 1809 and 1981, approximately 15 criminal cases involved the prosecution of a physician for medical malfeasance1; by contrast, between 1985 and 2004, another 15 cases were heard in US courts—every one involving the death of one or more patients.2

The two cases that I present in this article, both involving ObGyns, illustrate the distinguishing features of criminal and civil malpractice in the eyes of the law. My goal? To answer a question you may be considering: Am I safe from criminal prosecution for harm that comes to a patient at my hands?

Check out the rest of the article

here

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Following up last week’s news regarding the shuttering of the obstetrics ward at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, the state of New York has decided to fight back. Wanting to close the ward due to rising medical malpractice premiums regarding obstetrics, the state claims the hospital must provide proof that other hospitals in the area can handle the patient load before they can do so. Will they be able to?

New York Methodist Hospital and Maimonides Medical Center told The Brooklyn Paper that their obstetrics departments are already operating at capacity.

“We are not in a position to accommodate a higher volume of maternity cases,” said Eileen Tynion, a spokeswoman for Maimonides, the Borough Park hospital that delivered 7,207 newborns, more than any other hospital in the state last year.

There’s also no room at the inn at Park Slope’s Methodist Hospital.

“We just expanded to meet demand and we are already at capacity,” said Lyn Hill, a spokeswoman for the hospital, which delivered more than 5,000 babies last year.

Local officials are stepping in to voice their opinions on the matter as well.

State Sen. Marty Connor (D–Brooklyn Heights), whose colleagues could force state hearings over the plan to close the birthing wing, called on Continuum to provide honest numbers.

“The service is too important to the community to allow it to close,” he said.

Are medical malpractice suits really hurting the medical profession? Some say yes, others say no. Check out this article for opinions on both sides of the story.

Reform of our reckless tort system remains an absolute necessity for the future vitality of the medical profession. Most emergency physicians work 2-3 months per year to pay their malpractice insurance premiums and to continue feeding the litigation industry. This industry generates a tidal wave of litigation against physicians, with more than 80% of all cases having no basis in fact. (1) Furthermore, the ability of a plaintiff to recover damages has no correlation with fault. (2) The ability to recover damages only correlates with the presence of an injury. This evidence proves that we have a broken tort system. We must look to state legislatures to provide relief.

And the retort?

It may sound awful that “most emergency physicians work 2-3 months per year to pay their malpractice insurance premiums,” but according to a review of placements by Merritt Hawkins in the 12 month period from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008, the average base salary to hired emergency physicians not counting benefits offered for new hires during that time was $240,000 per year, and the Medical Group Management Association reported a higher average overall in 2007, $256,800; emergency physicians’ pay went up by 5.6% between 2003 and 2007, controlling for inflation. If an emergency physician really has to spend as much as 1/4 of their salary on malpractice insurance premiums, that leaves $192,600 per year in income. Report that annual income after malpractice insurance on the street, and wait for the world’s smallest fiddle to play a sad tune for you.

Be sure and check out the rest of the article for some interesting charts and statistics.

A new documentary entitled “America the Beautiful” examines the world of plastic surgery and the complications that could arise from what many consider to be simple procedures. The New York Daily News reports on medical malpractice issues that have come from botched plastic surgery.

Former "Today" show guest host Mary Nissenson had a brow-lift at 42 and, 12 years later, is still in agony.

"This man took my entire face off," explains Nissenson in the film, who says she opted for a surgeon with a "tremendous reputation."

"From the second I opened my eyes, the agony was so extreme, so excruciating. I wanted to kill myself that second," she says flatly.

Dr. Richard D’Amico, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, gives some tips to think about should you be considering plastic surgery:

He suggests taking the following three steps; "First, look for an ASPS certified surgeon." The American Society of Plastic Surgeons Web site(plasticsurgery.org)is a user-friendly resource for starting your search.

Second, check out accredited facilities where the surgery will be performed, at online resources like the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities Web site (aaaasf.org).

Finally, ensure you have a thorough preoperative evaluation, including laboratory tests. Sometimes, even if the procedure is done properly, pre-existing conditions may be a detriment in recovery.