Vested Interest - News and Notes - July 2004 Issue

Computer "Toxic Dust" Linked to Diseases

"Toxic dust" found on computer processors and monitors contains chemicals linked to reproductive and neurological disorders, according to a new study by several environmental groups. The survey by Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Computer TakeBack Campaign and Clean Production Action, is among the first to identify brominated flame retardants on the surfaces of common devices in homes and offices. Electronics companies began using polybrominated diphenyl (PBDEs) and other flame retardants in the 1970s, arguing that the toxins prevent fires and cannot escape from plastic casings. Penta- and octa-brominated diphenyl will be taken off the market by the end of the year. Environmental groups are demanding legislation that would also ban deca-brominated diphenyl. (ATLA Law News Digest – June 10, 2004)

Resistance Builds as Hospital Prices Rise

Hospitals continue to have the upper hand in negotiations with health insurers, according to a new study, which found that hospitals raised prices last year by the largest margin in the decade the data have been tracked. But it is unclear how much longer hospitals will be able to continue raising prices, in light of increasing resistance by employers who pay for workers’ health coverage. The study, an annual review of private health insurance spending, was released by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonprofit research group in Washington. Hospitals raised their overall prices by 8 percent in 2003, the highest of six consecutive years of increases. That increase comes as insurers’ overall spending on healthcare has stopped its double-digit ascent, increasing 7.4 percent last year. Hospital care accounted for about half of that spending increase. Outpatient services by hospitals were particularly costly, with insurers’ spending on such services rising 11 percent last year, according to the study. (ATLA Law News Digest – June 10, 2004)

Florida Doctors Drop Insurance

More than 3,000 of Florida’s 98,000 physicians have dropped their liability coverage in response to their soaring malpractice insurance rates. Several states, such as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Colorado, require doctors to have insurance, and most hospitals, even in Florida, require a minimum level of liability coverage. Even doctors who are bare in Florida must prove they have $250,000 in assets to cover any claim against them. Florida lawmakers tried to repair the system last year, but neither doctors nor lawyers like their solution. Both sides are now pushing amendments they hope to ask voters to approve in November. Doctors want to limit attorneys’ fees. Lawyers want to bar doctors from practicing if they’ve make three malpractice judgments against them, and give patients more access to records of doctors’ mistakes. (Liability & Insurance Week – June 18, 2004)

New Jersey Doctors Lose Court Fight to Keep Malpractice Payments Private

Malpractice payments made by New Jersey doctors became public for the first time, detailing close to $1 billion paid out to injured patients in the past five years, often in confidential settlements. The state’s doctors fought bitterly to keep the information from reaching the public, arguing that court settlements have little to do with a physician’s competence. But a federal judge disagreed, saying the information could be critical to consumers making healthcare decisions. U.S. District Judge William G. Bassler issued an order from the bench that allowed the state to release the names and malpractice payouts of 2,333 doctors. The data included 2,833 cases, because some physicians were sued more than once. The information covers the past five years, when the state’s doctors made a total of $890,311,551 in malpractice payments. The payments are nearly always made by the insurance companies that provide malpractice coverage for the doctors. The data show that just more than 10 percent of the state’s 22,000 physicians accounted for all the malpractice payments made in the past five years. (ATLA Law News Digest – June 17,2004)

New Jersey Doctors’ Payouts for Malpractice Fall, Contradicting Claims

New Jersey doctors and insurers have long blamed rising malpractice premiums on skyrocketing payouts. But data made public show the opposite: Payments made on behalf of the state’s physicians have been declining since 2001. The data shows, for the first time, the total cost of doctors’ malpractice payments to injured patients or their survivors. The figure hit a high of more than $214 million in 2001. It declined to about $199 million in 2002 and dropped further – to $162.5 million - in 2003. The total payout declined even as doctors saw steep increases in their malpractice premiums. (ATLA Law News Digest – June 17,2004)

Florida Doctors Defend Wording of Ballot Item

Doctors tried to persuade the Supreme Court that a proposal to give patients at least 70 percent of jury awards in medical-malpractice cases is clearly understandable and should go before voters Nov. 2. Doctors are targeting trial lawyers who represent malpractice victims by seeking to limit the percentage of winnings they can take as fees. The medical community says that might keep lawyers from taking on meritless suits, something that doctors contend is making practicing medicine in Florida prohibitively expensive. But the trial lawyers argue the measure will simply keep many of them from taking any malpractice cases on a contingency fee basis, certainly ones that are likely to be lengthy and expensive, because there’s not enough likelihood that such cases would be worth the risk of losing. The issue before the Supreme Court isn’t the idea’s merit, but whether the proposed ballot summary accurately reflects what the amendment would do. Lawyers who represent malpractice victims told the justices that they don’t think the measure is clear, partly because it doesn’t tell voters that victims won’t necessarily collect all of the remaining 70 percent of the award. They say victims might owe Medicaid or Medicare money for medical care and that might be taken out of their award because of a lien. (ATLA Law News Digest – June 17,2004)

Attorneys Must Disclose Liability Insurance

Effective October 1, 2004, Illinois attorneys will be required to disclose whether they carry professional liability insurance. The ARDC, in conjunction with the 2002 registration process, asked attorneys to voluntarily disclose whether they had legal professional liability insurance. The survey showed that 40 percent of solo practitioners did not carry malpractice insurance. After the requirement becomes effective, the ARDC will be able to conduct random audits to confirm the information provided by attorneys. If the information isn’t provided, the lawyer’s name will be removed from the master roll and the attorney will be unable to practice in Illinois (The State-Journal Register – June 21, 2004)

Daughter of Mississippi Lawmaker Denied Treatment by Doctor

A plastic surgeon declined to treat the daughter of a lawmaker who opposed limits in damage lawsuits against doctors in Mississippi. Kimberly Banks said she went to Dr. Michael Kanosky’s office seeking to have scars removed from third-degree burns she suffered while cooking earlier this year. "He asked me who I worked for and then asked me who my father was," Banks told The Associated Press. "I told him Earle Banks. He told me, ‘I can’t see you because your father is against tort reform.’" (ATLA Law News Digest – June 17,2004)

New Operating Room Rules to Help Prevent Mixups

Starting July 1, operating rooms are supposed to be a little safer. Surgical teams must take new steps to prevent operating on the wrong body part or wrong patient. Among the requirements: surgeons and nurses must take what’s being dubbed a "time-out" before cutting, going through a checklist to ensure the correct patient is on the table and that everyone in the room agrees on the procedure being done. Surgeons must also initial the incision site, while the patient is awake and cooperating, if possible. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations can revoke the accreditation of hospitals or other surgical sites that don’t comply with the new safety steps. (AP – June 22, 2004)

Group says Medical-Malpractice Crisis in Illinois Region is Full of "Political Hype"

Victims and Families United, an Illinois group, said it has released a study that contradicts what medical-malpractice insurers are saying about their costs in two counties, but the state’s largest carrier said the group is using "fuzzy math." Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois have been said to be "out of control" when it comes to medical-malpractice lawsuits, said Doug Wojcieszak, executive director for Victims and Families United. With medical-malpractice premiums 20% higher than other nearby counties, the group said it decided to look into the actual costs for the state’s largest insurer, ISMIE Mutual Insurance Co. After reviewing the company’s 2003 report to the Illinois Department of Insurance, the group said the numbers don’t show that the two-county area called Metro-East is as costly as insurers say it is, Wojcieszak said. Rather, the group said claims paid were in line with what would be expected for the region’s population. According to Victims and Families United, Madison and St. Clair counties accounted for 4% of total claims paid and defense costs for ISMIE in 2003. Meanwhile, the population of the two counties is 500,000, or 4% of the state’s population. (ATLA Law News Digest – June 24, 2004)