News in brief - Nov. 21, 2005

AMA Foundation gets $100,000 to help physicians - Average award per liability claim up for third year in Missouri - FDA may have to disclose scientists' financial ties - Medical schools win service awards - New AAMC leaders named

AMA Foundation gets $100,000 to help physicians

The Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute gave the AMA Foundation's Health Care Recovery Fund a $100,000 grant Nov. 2.

The money will aid doctors affected by disasters, including helping physicians rebuild in the wake of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

The recovery fund, started with a $100,000 grant from the AMA, is an ongoing fund that provides grants to physicians affected by natural or man-made disasters. The AMA Foundation is accepting donations online (www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/affiliated-groups/ama-foundation/donate-now/donate-online.shtml) or by check. Checks should be mailed to the AMA Foundation, 515 N. State St., Chicago, IL 60610.

About 100 physicians have applied for the grants since the fund's inception in October. Physicians whose practices were damaged or destroyed in areas declared disaster zones by the Federal Emergency Management Agency are eligible to apply. Grant applications may be submitted online or are available for download on the AMA Web site (www.ama-assn.org/ama/no-index/about-ama/15614.shtml).

Average award per liability claim up for third year in Missouri

The average award per medical liability claim in Missouri rose for the third consecutive year, a trend state legislators are hoping will reverse after tort reforms take effect, a state report said.

The Missouri Medical Malpractice Insurance Report, which the state's Dept. of Insurance released last month, reported that the average award per claim was $252,666 in 2004. Awards per claim were $166,623 in 2001, $207,627 in 2002 and $212,006 in 2003, the report showed.

But there were some positive signs, according to the study. Payments per claim for hospitals declined to $177,740 in 2004, down from $195,034 in 2003. Also, insurers reported positive underwriting results -- meaning they were taking in more money than they were paying out -- for the first time in five years, the report said.

Earlier this year, the state passed several tort reform measures, including a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages. Legislators and other officials say they hope the measures will help stabilize the state's medical liability market.

FDA may have to disclose scientists' financial ties

A measure requiring the Food and Drug Administration to give the public 15 days notice of any potential conflicts of interest for scientists sitting on its 30 advisory panels was included in an agriculture appropriations bill Congress passed in early November.

With President Bush's signature, it would become law. He expressed support for an earlier version of the appropriations bill in June.

Under the new rules, the FDA would need to provide a list of any conflict-of-interest waivers given to empanelled scientists, and describe the nature of the conflict, 15 days before the advisory committee meets. Previously, the information was available only through the Freedom of Information Act.

Consumer advocacy groups have complained that the FDA has been reluctant and slow to release information about scientists or physicians who reviewed drugs or devices made by companies to which they had financial ties.

Medical schools win service awards

The Medical College of Wisconsin and the University of California, Davis, Health System in November received the "Outstanding Community Service Award" from the Assn. of American Medical Colleges. The award recognizes schools for their longstanding commitment to their local communities' health care needs.

Judges look at institutions with community service programs that go beyond the traditional role of academic medicine to reach communities whose needs are not met by the health care delivery system.

AAMC officials said the institutions honored this year are addressing the needs of underserved citizens in their communities and beyond, with the Medical College of Wisconsin reaching patients in downtown Milwaukee and rural Wisconsin, and the University of California, Davis, Health System reaching residents in inner-city Sacramento and rural northern California.

New AAMC leaders named

Thomas M. Priselac, MPH, president and chief executive officer of California's Cedars-Sinai Health System, is the new chair of the Assn. of American Medical Colleges. The transition took place at the AAMC annual meeting in November.

Darrell Kirch, MD, senior vice president for health affairs at Pennsylvania State University and dean of its college of medicine, and chief executive officer of the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, was named AAMC chair-elect.

Priselac has been associated with Cedars-Sinai Health System for more than 20 years and is the former chair of the AAMC Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member of the University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health.

Dr. Kirch served as chair of the AAMC council of deans from 2003 to 2004. In 2004 he was appointed co-chair of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. He also is a former chair of the governing council of the American Medical Association's Section on Medical Schools.