News in brief - March 17, 2003

Rallies for tort reform continue in Illinois, Florida - Ohio judge OKs lawsuit against health plans - N.C. physician legislators sponsor anti-assisted-suicide bill - N.C. medical society wins kudos for charity care project - Alliance for CME adds research arm

Rallies for tort reform continue in Illinois, Florida

Physician rallies against rising medical liability insurance continued around the country in late February, with doctors in Florida and Illinois telling lawmakers that something has to change or they won't be able to afford to practice anymore.

In Florida, about 1,000 physicians from Pinellas, Manatee, Pasco and Hernando counties rallied in support of state and federal efforts to pass tort reform that includes a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. Several days before the rally, the Florida Medical Assn. released a survey showing that 86% of voters polled said they supported the proposed $250,000 cap.

In Illinois, hundreds of physicians from around the state protested high insurance rates at the Capitol in Springfield. They also support a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages. The Illinois State Medical Society did not support the one-day protest but is calling on federal lawmakers to pass tort reform with a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering awards.

Ohio judge OKs lawsuit against health plans

Physicians in Greater Cincinnati can go forward with a lawsuit they filed against local health plans, a Hamilton County, Ohio, judge recently ruled. The judge rejected the health plan's argument that the lawsuit should be tossed out of court.

The judge also ordered that discovery begin in the case. But the health plans could appeal the judge's ruling.

Greater Cincinnati physicians, like physicians in states around the country, have filed lawsuits against health plans in state courts that accuse the companies of failing to pay physicians in a timely manner, downcoding claims that physicians file and using computer programs that automatically reject claims.

N.C. physician legislators sponsor anti-assisted-suicide bill

Two physicians in the North Carolina State Senate are co-sponsoring a bill that would make it a felony for a licensed health care professional to willfully write a lethal prescription intended to help a patient end his life.

The doctors behind the effort are Jim Forrester, MD, a GOP family physician, and Bill Purcell, MD, a retired pediatrician and a Democrat.

Withdrawing life support or administering drugs to control pain -- even if it increases the patient's risk for death -- would not be illegal, the New Bern Sun Journal reports. "You can give a lot of pain medicine, you just can't give it to them for the purpose of killing them," Dr. Purcell said.

N.C. medical society wins kudos for charity care project

The Buncombe County Medical Society in Asheville, N.C., has won a national award for Project Access, a physician-led initiative that provides charity care to low-income, uninsured residents.

The medical society received the 11th annual Premier Cares Award from Premier, an alliance of hospitals and health care systems. The $70,000 award recognizes an organization that improves the health of the medically underserved.

The society started Project Access in western North Carolina in 1995, when doctors teamed up to volunteer. About 17,000 people have been helped through the program, which became a model for other communities across the nation. Similar programs in 22 other communities have provided care to about 300,000 patients.

Alliance for CME adds research arm

The development of practical continuing medical education courses that easily translate into results in a physician's exam room may get a boost from the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education.

The alliance, armed with $100,000 in seed money, is establishing the Alliance Center for Learning and Change this year. The goal of the center will be to support research on effective physician learning and how it can be turned into tangible improvements in patient care and outcomes.

"The alliance embraces the responsibility for providing leadership to the profession and to identify such practices and to make information widely available -- while developing and supporting research projects that build the bridge from research to practice," said Stephen Biddle, chair of the advisory panel for the Alliance Center for Learning and Change.

Before the end of the first quarter, the alliance plans to appoint an advisory council for the center. The council's first task will be to determine the most appropriate types of research and work to be done to close the gap between medical research and the practice of medicine.