NH Considers Early Offer Program to Speed and Reduce Medical Malpractice Claims

The Union Leader carries an article describing a new bill before the New Hampshire Senate — Senate Bill 406: "Establishing an early offer alternative in medical injury claims". The bill "seeks to bypass costly and time-consuming litigation and give patients, providers and attorneys a pathway to a quick resolution."

According to the report by Garry Rayno:

"Under the bill, a patient who believes he has suffered an injury from medical care may request to participate in the early-offer program instead of the [screening panels] system that's already in place. If the provider also agrees to participate, the patient will be guaranteed a payment, Bradley said, though it might not be as big.

A patient who submits a claim under the new system will have to undergo an exam by an independent health care provider as well as submit information about medical costs and lost wages. The participating provider would then respond with an offer of payment based on the severity of the injury, ranging from $1,700 to $117,500 along with lost wages."

For more information, see the full article: Garry Rayno's State House Dome: Bill on injury claims aims to please all

What Makes New Hampshire's Medical Malpractice Laws Unique?

Each state has unique laws specifically governing medical malpractice and medical liability trials, so it is important for your lawyer to be fully experienced in the laws and the courts in the state where your injury occurred. What is unique to NH's med mal laws? Most notably in NH, the state has no limits or caps on damage awards. In addition, the state requires any claims filed to be reviewed by a pretrial screening panel to identify claims that merit compensation and to encourage early resolution of claims before going to trial.

Based on a listing of medical liability and malpractice laws compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures, 16 states do not have a damage award limit or cap, 36 jurisdictions have a limit or cap. New Hampshire is one of the states that does not limit damages. In fact, the State Supreme Court (see Carson v. Maurer, 120 N.H. 925, 424 A.2d 825 (1980) and Brannigan v. Usitalso, 134 N.H. 50, 587 A.2d 1232 (1991)) has declared limits on non-economic damages (§507-C:7) as unconstitutional. Here is a link to laws governing New Hampshire's screening panels for medical injury claims.

For a comprehensive list of state-by-state laws governing medical malpractice and liability suits, see www.ncsl.org.

NH Medical Liability/Malpractice Laws

The National Conference of State Legislatures website summarizes the medical liability and malpractice laws by state. The chart is updated as of September 2010. It documents:

• Damage Award Limits or Cap
• Statute of Limitation
• Joint and Several Liability
• Limits on Attorney Fees
• Periodic Payments
• Patient Compensasion or Injury Fund
• Doctor Apologies/Sympathetic Gestures
• Pre-trial Alternative Dispute Resolution and Screening Panels
• Affidavit or Certificate of Merit
• Expert Witness Standards
• Medical or Peer Review Panels

Click here to view New Hampshire's Medical Liability and Malpractice Laws.

NH Screening Panels Scrutinized

Some interesting numbers are included in the NHBR report on New Hampshire's review of medical malpractice review panels. In The jury's still out on malpractice panels, Cindy Kibbe writes that according to figures from the state's Medical Malpractice Panel and Insurance Oversight Committee...

"... there have been some 387 cases brought to the attention of screening panels since 2007, with 147 resolved prior to panel review. Of the 240 remaining cases 87 were waived, 84 have been heard and 69 are pending as of Dec. 10. Only 18 medical malpractice cases have gone to a jury trial after panel review since 2007."

For the full article please click through to NHBR where you can read or listen to the report.

Four New Hampshire Hospitals Join Together for Insurance Coverge

The New Hampshire Business Review reports on four New Hampshire healthcare providers — LRGHealthcare, Concord Hospital, Elliot Health Systems of Manchester and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital — have joined to create Granite Shield Insurance Exchange.

NHBR writes:

"With the establishment of Granite Shield, LRGH ends its longstanding relationship with the New Hampshire Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association..."

Read the full article here on NHBR.com: LRGH leaves JUA as 4 hospitals form new insurer

New Hampshire Ranks 3rd in Nation for Healthiness

American Health Rankings® has ranked New Hampshire as 3rd in the nation for overall healthiness, up from 4th in that nation last year.

Every state has its successes and every state has its challenges. New Hampshire's strengths include a low percentage of children in poverty at 10.5 percent of persons under age 18, a low violent crime rate at 160 offenses per 100,000 population, a low rate of uninsured population at 10.4 percent, low geographic disparity within the state at 5.7 percent and a low premature death rate with 5,792 years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population.

It's challenges include moderate public health funding at $63 per person, a moderate prevalence of binge drinking at 16.1 percent of the population and a moderate rate of cancer deaths at 196.2 deaths per 100,00. 

Click here to view the NH E-Ranking Report Card.

Vermont tops the list of healthiest states for the last four years of published reports. Vermont has had a steady climb in the Rankings for the last twelve years from a ranking of 17th in the 1997 and 1998 Editions. Massachusetts is ranked second, an improvement from third last year. Massachusetts has ranked in the top ten for almost 20 years. New Hampshire is ranked third, followed by Connecticut and Hawaii.

Mississippi is ranked 50th, with Louisiana, Arkansas, Nevada and Oklahoma rounding out the bottom five.

NH Gets New Chief Justice

New Hampshire's Executive Council has unanimously confirmed state Supreme Court Justice Linda Dalianis as New Hampshire's first female chief justice. She fills the position left bly retired chief justice John Broderick. This as reported by The Concord Monitor on December 9, 2010.

Submit Your NH Medical Malpractice Verdicts and Settlements

Please submit your news releases on recent medical malpractice verdicts and settlements for consideration in NH Medical Malpractice News. We aim to document significant wins in the state. Names are not necessary, but the result, type of case, and interesting specifics are encouraged. The date and court are also required for verification, but will not necessarily be published. Click here to submit.

NH Could Save 93 Hospital Deaths

According to analytical studies of comparative health care performance data by The Commonwealth Fund, 93 fewer premature deaths (before age 75) might occur from causes that are potentially treatable or preventable with timely and appropriate health care. This is according to the Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard, 2009, which lists state-specific rankings and results compared to industry benchmarks, and predicts the number of lives and dollars each state could save by achieving benchmark levels of performance. Click to view the New Hampshire Scorecard. New Hampshire ranks in the top quartile nationwide.

Sulindac Verdict is $21 Million

Here's the link to the highly anticipated Sulindac products liability case in NH. On September 8, 2010, the federal jury awarded a woman $21 million for injuries including blindness after taking the anti-inflammatory drug Sulindac. To read the Boston Globe article, click here.

NH Couple, Hospital Settle in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

The Boston Herald reports on a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a failed kidney transplant. Plaintiffs are a New Hampshire couple who have agreed to a $1.25 million settlement in a lawsuit against three doctors and a nurse at a Boston teaching hospital. Plaintiffs claimed that understaffing, rookie doctors-in-training and chain-of-command breakdowns at the teaching hospital led to the donor kidney dying a week after the transplant. The Nashua couple settled with the defendants on the day opening arguments were scheduled in Suffolk Superior Court. The defendants did not admit guilt. See full story here: NH Couple

N.H. Malpractice Premiums Unchanged

NHBR reports that ProSelect Insurance Company has announced it will not be increasing medical liability insurance premiums for New Hampshire providers. See the full article and accompanying podcast here:
Firm keeps N.H. malpractice premiums unchanged

NH Supreme Court Finds Negligence Should Be Left for Jury To Decide in Medical Malpractice Trial

CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Supreme Court overturned the trial court's decision in a medical malpractice lawsuit, Beckles v. Madden, agreeing with Lubin & Meyer attorneys for the plaintiff in finding that the burden of proof for causation, an element of negligence, should be left for the jury to decide. Attorney Benjamin Novotny, presented the oral argument before the court. The opinion was issued April 9, 2010 by Chief Justice Broderick.

The case in summary:

"The plaintiffs, Wesley and Maggie Beckles, appeal a decision of the Superior Court (Barry, J.) granting summary judgment on their medical malpractice claims in favor of the defendants, Jennifer E. Madden, M.D., Eugene A. Lesser, D.O., Foundation Medical Partners, Foundation Neurology, and Nagbhushan S. Rao, M.D. We reverse and remand

The opinion cites New Hampshire law as follows:

A negligence action based upon a claim of medical malpractice is governed by RSA chapter 507-E (1997 & Supp. 2009). RSA 507-E:2 provides in part:

I. In any action for medical injury, the plaintiff shall have the burden of proving by affirmative evidence which must include expert testimony of a competent witness or witnesses:
(a) The standard of reasonable professional practice in the medical care provider's profession or specialty thereof, if any, at the time the medical care in question was rendered; and
(b) That the medical care provider failed to act in accordance with such standard; and
(c) That as a proximate result thereof, the injured person suffered injuries which would not otherwise have occurred.

The court's full ruling is available online at Beckles v. Madden.

Med Mal Panels in NH Working According to N.H. Medical Society’s Palmer Jones

A NHBR interview with N.H. Medical Society’s Palmer Jones includes a question on how New Hampshire's medical malpractice panel has worked (which he a says in helping settle cases quicker). What follows is an excerpt from that interview... (Read the full interview here: NH Medical Society, Palmer.)

"Five years ago, the Medical Society worked with a group of legislators to create these panels. This idea was not original – it came from Maine. What we saw was, say you’re an OB/GYN in Portsmouth and you drive across the bridge and practice in Maine, you’ll get your malpractice insurance for one-third less than what you’re paying in New Hampshire from the same company.

Once we showed the legislators the comparisons of the rates, they supported it. The medical malpractice panel is now in place. It includes a retired judge, a lawyer and a doctor of the same specialty. Any liability issues brought against any physician, hospital or other health-care practitioner has to be reviewed by this panel.

The panel can then make recommendations; if the panel is unanimous, that outcome can be introduced in court should the person wish to go on to a jury trial. We think that it has changed the overall culture as to how we deal with medical malpractice. Cases are being settled quicker, and we know when this happens, the system will save funds."

NH is One of Fourteen States To Sue Amgen over Aranesp Promotion

According to this Thompson report, 14 states, including New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia have filed suit against Amgen for alleged use kickbacks in the promotion of anemia drug Aranesp. Other states named in the report as also participating in the suit are California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Tennessee and Virginia. Read more here.

States Attorneys General.

UnionLeader.com - Study: NH has high quality, high costs for health care

Manchester, NH — Friday, Aug. 21, 2009
NH has high quality, high costs for health care

A few facts from the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies:

• 18.1 of the gross state product goes to health care spending
  
• Overall health care spending per person was $8,235
• Family health insurance premiums average $12,686
• About 6.5 percent of children in the state have no health insurance
• State sees more emergency room visits per 1,000 residents than the U.S. median, at 471 versus 401 nationally

See full article here.

Posted using ShareThis

NH Attorney Weighs in on Screening Panel Debate

Recent attention to New Hampshire's law on medical malpractice screening panels, including recent pieces in the Concord Monitor, seems to feature a "he said-she said" debate between doctors and lawyers, leaving out the most important parties: the victims of malpractice.

Read the editorial by Attorney Dugan here: What about the victims?

To understand the opposing viewpoint, read this previously published My Turn column by Dr. Oglesby Young: Screening malpractice suits is lowering costs

File under: medical malpractice nh

Largest Medical Malpractice Verdict in NH

The jury award of $1.75 million to a New Hampshire man blinded by improper care while in the emergency department appears to be the largest verdict of the year in NH for a medical malpractice lawsuit for 2008.

The article was reported on by the Union Leader and Boston Globe. For more information on this trial, click on: Largest medical malpractice verdict NH on the attorney's web site.

If you have information on a larger medical malpractice verdict or settlement in NH for 2008 or 2009, please provide information via the "comment" function of this blog. Thank you!

NH Medical Malpractice Screening Effectiveness Panel Needs More Time

New Hampshire doctors and their lawyers claim that state's medical malpractice screening panels save "money and time by encouraging lawsuits to settle but also keep meritless claims from juries," according to this Concord Monitor report.

Medical malpractice attorneys who represent injured patients counter that it's the other way around.

"But all those arguments are based on little more than anecdotal evidence. That's because state officials tracking the two key elements — the outcome of medical malpractice lawsuits and the state's malpractice insurance rates — say they need more time and more information."

See the full article here: Malpractice screening debated.

Also covered by Fox44 Burlington: Malpractice Screening Under Scrutiny in NH

NH Medical Malpractice News

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