Fox 4 in Dallas did a great story on the Texas Medical Board and their contribution to physician discipline since tort reform in 2003. According to the report serious disciplinary actions are down and the time taken to conduct investigations has risen. Further, Doctor confidentiality and secrecy is maintained until a final disciplinary action is completed, leaving patients unaware of allegations of malpractice by doctors. Check the Fox 4 page for a video. Some of the images are graphic and the stories are truly tragic. Its a shame our state has fallen so far in protecting patient … [Read more...]
Injured by a Doctor? You’ll likely deal with the secretive Medical Board instead of open court
May 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Tort Reform has not Increased the Number of Doctors in Texas
May 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A new study by David A. Hyman, Charles Silver, and Bernard Black shows that Texas Tort Reform measures have not increased the number of doctors in Texas since 2003. "Does state tort reform affect physician supply? Tort reformers certainly believe so. Before Texas adopted tort reform in 2003, proponents claimed that physicians were deserting Texas in droves. After tort reform was enacted, proponents claimed there had been a dramatic increase in physicians moving to Texas due to the improved liability climate. We find no evidence to support either claim. Physician supply was not … [Read more...]
Federal Judge in Texas Upholds Med Mal Damages Cap
April 26, 2012 By 1 Comment
Originally posted at the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/health-care/20120327-u.s.-judge-upholds-texas-cap-on-medical-malpractice-awards.ece By MARK CURRIDEN The Texas Lawbook mark.curriden@texaslawbook.net Published: 27 March 2012 08:55 PM A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a Texas law limiting noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases to $250,000 is constitutional. The decision, applauded by tort reform advocates and denounced by trial lawyers and victims of medical malpractice, ends a four-year legal battle over … [Read more...]
The Risks of Using Generic Drugs
November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
by Sarah Taylor, SpringerLyle ••• In June of 2011, the United States Supreme Court decided an important issue regarding the warning labels on prescription drugs in Pliva, Inc. et al v. Mensing. Mensing was a prescription drug failure-to-warn-case. It dealt with prescription drug companies’ failure to put accurate warnings on their drug labels, leading to patients taking dangerous drugs that they otherwise would not have taken. In Mensing, the Court held that name-brand manufacturers of prescription drugs have an obligation, both under the federal regulations and under state … [Read more...]
Cancer Risk linked to Diabetes Treatment
November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
By Frank Lyle “Actos” is the brand name for a drug (pioglitazone) used to treat adult onset, Type-II diabetes. In June of 2011, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) informed the public that this drug may increase the risk of bladder cancer. The FDA required new warnings to be placed on the medication’s label sold under the names Actos, Actoplus Met and Duetact. The drug has already been pulled off the market in France and Germany. It has been estimated that more than 2 million patients filled prescriptions for the drug between January 2010 and October 2010. Our attorneys at … [Read more...]
No Better Care, Thanks to Tort Reform
October 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published in The Texas Tribune by guest columnist, Charles M. Silver In 2006, Dr. Howard Marcus wrote that Texas’ 2003 tort reform statute sparked an “amazing turnaround” in which doctors came to Texas in droves, instead of leaving the state as they had before. He was doubly wrong. Texas neither lost doctors before 2003 nor gained them especially quickly in subsequent years. In fact, according to statistics published by the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS), the supply of active, direct patient care (DPC) doctors per capita grew faster from 1996 to 2002 than at … [Read more...]
Tragedy Brought on by Tainted Fruit
October 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
By Moni Basu, CNN William Beach was one of those people who fixated on certain foods. He would eat the same thing voraciously for a few days, and then, when he tired of the same tastes, he moved onto something else. In August, when summer's heat seemed unending in Mustang, Okla., Beach took to savoring fried chicken -- and soft, sweet cantaloupe. Beach was elderly -- 87 -- but after eating the fruit, his health declined rather suddenly and before anyone in his family knew what was wrong, he was dead. He is among 15 people who died from Listeria monocytogenes in what the Centers for … [Read more...]
Hip Implant Complaints Increase, While Dangers Are Reviewed
August 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
By BARRY MEIER and JANET ROBERTS of the New York Times Published: August 22, 2011 The federal government has received a surge in complaints in recent months about failed hip replacements, suggesting that serious problems persist with some types of artificial hips even as researchers scramble to evaluate the health dangers. An analysis of federal data by The New York Times indicates that the Food and Drug Administration has received more than 5,000 reports since January about several widely used devices known as metal-on-metal hips, more than the agency had received about those devices in … [Read more...]
Hair Removal Service Not Protected Under Health Care Liability Act
July 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
from Texas Lawyer Bioderm Skin Care LLC v. Sok Tx. App. Dist. 5 Kerry P. Fitzgerald Justice 05-10-00044-CV 06-28-2011 OPINION Before Justices Morris, O'Neill, and FitzGerald Opinion By Justice FitzGerald Appellee Veasna "Sandee" Sok sued Bioderm Skin Care, LLC ("Bioderm") and Quan Nguyen, MD, seeking to recover damages for burns she suffered during a laser hair removal procedure at Bioderm. Bioderm and Nguyen contend Sok's claims are health care liability claims and are subject to Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Accordingly, they moved to … [Read more...]
