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Judicial Review of Malpractice Reform Legislation: The Story so Far

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Jay Alexander Gold
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Extract

The malpractice Insurance crisis of 1975 saw many insurance companies which had provided medical malpractice coverage leave the field. Those that stayed increased their premium rates astronomically. One of the results has been a flood of legislation, a torrent unparalleled , , , in the history of medical law In this country. We may expect soon to be deluged again, this time with court decisions reviewing and interpreting the constitutionality of these laws. This brief article reviews the first trickle of such cases.

The bulk of the issues litigated to date have centered around the use of screening panels. A number of states have set up such panels. in all of the cases so far litigated. the panels contained a judge who usually sat with a physician and a lawyer. Before a lawsuit is filed, the plaintiff is required to bring the case before Me panel, which makes a determination of liability and damages. Either party may there after bring the case to trial.

Type
Article
Information
Medicolegal News , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , Winter 1977 , pp. 5 - 6
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1977

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References

Curran, Malpractice Crisis. The Flood of Legislation, 289 N. Eng. J. Med. 1182 (1975).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
N.Y. Judiciary Law, Sec. 148-a, subdiv. 8.Google Scholar
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