I posted recently about frivolous defenses and appeals raised by defendants, often because their insurance carriers have the resources to waste time and the incentive to hold on to the money that will eventually be paid to satisfy the claim. When we hear about frivolous claims, it is usually from insurance interests complaining that non-meritorious […]
Doctors who prescribe to people they’ve never met and care they never give. These claims go back to a Civil War era law designed to prevent the Government from being overcharged for military supplies. Now, the DOJ brings in billions of dollars every year for healthcare fraud. Here’s the link Physicians facing prison, fines, for […]
After lobbying legislatures for “tort reform” for decades, the number of medical malpractice claims – especially what they used to call “frivolous” claims – has gone down. Has that lowered rates for physicians? Of course not. But instead of accepting responsibility, the insurance industry now blames “nuclear claims” and other imaginary foes to explain their […]
Like the insured persons in the story below, follow your instincts when it comes to insurance claims you think have been improperly denied. If you suspect something, they probably are improperly denied. The rejection of van Terheyden’s claim was typical for Cigna, one of the country’s largest insurers. The company has built a system that […]
I have stood on a mountain of no’s for one yes. B. Smith
Here is a case out of Ohio allowing a claim to proceed, even where the defendant makes himself difficult to find and serve with process. Ohio Supreme Court: Patients can pursue legal claim against doctor who fled country I had a similar and horrific case involving a small child killed in an office setting during […]
The end of the year brings legislative sessions to a close, setting up final face-offs between special interests affected by pending legislation. Back in the Spring, I wrote in separate posts about a long hoped-for consumer win in Florida to change unfair wrongful death laws: Turns out, politics isn’t the only place where misinformation is […]
And the results are not surprising. Misdiagnosis, prescribing errors, and wrongful death make up most of the claims. When I worked in defense of hospitals, nurses were the hardest witnesses to prepare. They are left alone too long and forced to do things they wouldn’t normally if they’d been under the direct supervision of a […]
It is absurd to criticize a fee structure that puts a lawyer in complete concert with his client’s interests and allows clients without resources or influence to pursue remedies against the most powerful institutions in their community for real harm done to them. Back in the day, the argument was that verdicts were too numerous […]
I know – for a fact – that this happens waaay too often. Sometimes, the physicians and trial lawyers share an interest in patient safety that is contrary to the interests of the doctor’s insurance carrier. “Protecting patient and physician confidentiality must be a paramount concern of medical malpractice carriers. What Coverys has done in […]
