| Lawyers fight back with 9 business measures
The latest spate of ballot initiatives aimed at Colorado businesses comes from a group of lawyers that wants voters to back limits on executive pay and real estate commissions. In an apparent retaliation for an earlier filing to limit attorney fees, the head of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association has filed with the state to put nine measures on the November ballot. "For too long, corporate interests have been put ahead of consumer interests in this state," said John Sadwith, executive director of the 1,200-member trial lawyers' group. "Real people in this state deserve a break." Sadwith declined to comment directly on a March ballot filing by former State Treasurer Mike Hillman designed to curtail the amount of money attorneys can collect in contingency fees. "These measures give consumers the choice to support better consumer protection vs.Medical malpractice attorneys.
Blunt: Malpractice suits and premiums have gone down since 2005
CREVE COEUR — Missouri is seeing the benefits of medical lawsuit restrictions passed nearly three years ago, Gov. Matt Blunt said today. But critics say the law is keeping many people, especially the elderly and needy, from getting justice for medical mishaps. Blunt said that since the liability lawsuit limits took effect in August 2005, lawsuits filed against doctors have dropped sharply. So have the amount of damages awarded, he said. "The significant and comprehensive reforms we enacted have leveled the playing field in Missouri courtrooms so that doctors and small business owners can go about creating jobs and opportunity without the paralyzing worry about the effects of a frivolous lawsuit or runaway personal injury award," Blunt said at a news conference at St.Medical malpractice attorneys.
Schneider says case got out of hand
Stephen Schneider said if the Kansas Board of Healing Arts had conducted its investigation into his Haysville medical clinic swiftly, he might not be facing federal criminal charges. "I think there have to be some changes made, so things don't get out of hand like they did with me," Schneider said Friday morning, following his return home after four months in jail. Schneider said that if the board had handled its investigation properly, he might have been exonerated through a medical review, alleviating the need for criminal prosecution. "I thought that's the way it was starting out, anyway," he said. Citing advice from his lawyer, Schneider declined to discuss specifics of the 34-count federal indictment against him and his wife, Linda, related to their prescribing of painkillers.Medical malpractice attorneys.
Woman's Estate Wins Legal Victory In Malpractice Suit
MADISON, Wis. -- A state appeals court has given a major legal victory to the estate of a deceased woman suing for medical malpractice damages. The District 1 Court of Appeals said the estate of Tywanda Luckett can argue that she was able to feel pain for part of the five years she was in a long-term care facility before her death in 2005. Her lawyers had admitted the Milwaukee woman was in a persistent vegetative state but later discovered evidence showing several doctors believed she was conscious. Lawyers for the health care providers being sued argued it was unfair for Luckett's attorneys to change their story. The difference could mean millions of dollars in damages for pain and suffering in her estate's medical malpractice case stemming from a tubal ligation in 2000.Medical malpractice attorneys.
Brookhaven hospital may shutter maternity unit
State legislators and nurses are upset that Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center, with declining births in its 14-bed maternity unit, is considering closing the unit.
"We are reviewing the options," said Katherine Heaviside, a spokeswoman for the East Patchogue hospital. Heaviside said there is no timeline but that hospital officials have met with the state Department of Health, which must approve the closing.
In addition to the decline in hospital births, the need for a $15-million renovation makes it inefficient to keep open the unit, which lost $2.7 million last year, Heaviside said. The occupancy rate was 35 percent in 2007, she said, the result of changing demographics and the loss of obstetricians hit by high malpractice insurance rates.
No private obstetricians currently deliver babies at the hospital, she said.
|
