Medical malpractice insurers have engineered "extremely high levels of profit" and have systematically overestimated their losses in recent years, a new report finds. The report can be viewed here: http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xbcr/justice/Reserving_Practices_and_Record_Profits_2012.pdf. "The average profit margin for the top 10 medical malpractice insurers was twice as high as the average profit margin of the 50 most profitable Fortune [...]
The Institute of Medicine is studying the use of electronic medical records (EMRs). In this regard, it recently published a report entitled Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer. Lawyers who represent patients injured by medical negligence have encountered their own problems with EMRs insofar as it is virtually impossible to get an accurate copy of the patient's medical [...]
Having had the privilege of trying many cases over the years, I have likewise had the privilege of meeting many Ohio citizens who are sitting as jurors for the first time. During jury selection, I often ask jurors if they feel there should be caps on damages in medical negligence cases. Many, if not most, [...]
A recent article in the AARP Bulletin, summarized what many of us have known for a long time. Hospitals are not safe, especially when you are sick! While we know about the world class care that certain hospitals advertise you will receive, what we don't hear about enough is how the healthcare system is broken. As [...]
Several years ago, the Office of Management and Budget published data showing that the costs associated with medical negligence litigation are shrinking, not growing, and constitute a negligible portion of the total healthcare budget. Nonetheless, insurers, whose out-of-control profit margins are the main contributor to runaway healthcare costs, continue to beat this drum. It may [...]
A bill currently before an Ohio Senate committee looks to give doctors more protection and patients less. Ohio Senate Bill 129 would take away patients' right to sue for medical errors when they receive emergency medical services under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). This civil immunity bill, if passed, would [...]
Tort reform is unsafe and unconstitutional, yet it seems to be the topic on every politician's agenda. This notion of frivolous lawsuits and juries awarding unjustified verdicts is simply untrue. This topic is popular because big business and insurance companies spend millions of dollars to convince everyone that the system is broken and that attorneys [...]
In the Information Age, the trend has been towards greater transparency in every aspect of life, except, it seems, medicine. Healthcare providers have long sought to conduct their activities in secret. Now, patients have even greater reason to fear the lack of transparency in their healthcare. The Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocated millions of dollars [...]
Tort Reform Legislation is unsafe, unfair and unnecessary. Limits on what can be awarded for non-economic damages have resulted in insurance companies profiting at the expense of injured patients. Doctors have also been misled by insurance companies to believe that medical malpractice attorneys are to blame for their skyrocketing insurance premiums. Not true! Tort reform [...]
We have previously written on the topic of medical records. See our website on our Home Page at the News & Articles and Patient Resources tab at https://www.mishkindlaw.com for more information on your rights. The attorneys at Mishkind Kulwicki Law are patient safety advocates and, as such, we need to examine your records to uncover [...]