News in brief - Dec. 19, 2005

Pa. sees tort reforms working - Web site has resources for doctors seeking flexible work options - French transplant nose, lips and chin to dog-bite victim - JCAHO backs off plan to sell patient-level data - N.Y. doctor new NMA board chair - Medical college group has new leader

Pa. sees tort reforms working

Pennsylvania tort reforms have rippled into effect as medical malpractice case filings across the state dropped 34% in 2004, compared with the average rates for 2000 to 2002. Statistics from the state Supreme Court also showed that in Philadelphia, which had been a hotbed for lawsuits, filings plummeted 54% for that same period.

According to court officials and the Pennsylvania Medical Society, two key judicial reforms in the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act of 2002 are credited for the change. The new law prohibited venue shopping by requiring that a lawsuit be filed in the county where the incident occurred. The law also began requiring lawyers to file a certificate of merit. The medical society says more reforms are still needed.

The American Medical Association lists Pennsylvania as being in a medical liability crisis because insurance premiums are driving doctors there to retire early, eliminate high-risk procedures or move out of state.

Pennsylvania Medical Society President Mark Piasio, MD, said the statistics point to good, common-sense reforms that have rooted. But he said, "we're not done."

Web site has resources for doctors seeking flexible work options

Physicians seeking non-traditional work situations such as multiple part-time positions or reduced work hours can turn to a new Web site to help explore options (www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/member-groups-sections/women-physicians-congress/life-balance/explorations-workpractice-options.shtml).

The American Medical Association Women Physician Congress and the American Academy of Pediatrics created an Internet resource for members that includes a self-assessment questionnaire, insights from those working part time, a slide presentation on part-time employment and a list of other Web sites and reading matter.

French transplant nose, lips and chin to dog-bite victim

French physicians announced late last month that they successfully transplanted a nose, lips and chin from a brain-dead donor to a dog-bite victim.

French ethics authorities rejected an application to try a complete facial transplant last year, ruling that it was too risky a procedure to perform in a non-lifesaving situation. But the ethicists approved a more limited facial operation.

In the United States, physicians at the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Louisville in Kentucky are exploring complete facial transplantation surgery. The Cleveland Clinic, which bioethicists have criticized for not engaging in a deeper ethics discussion, is now screening candidates for the surgery, in a process that a spokeswoman said would take months.

JCAHO backs off plan to sell patient-level data

The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations will not sell patient-level performance data acquired from hospitals during accreditation work to third parties, such as insurers, the group announced last month.

A JCAHO subsidiary's contract to sell such data to several BlueCross BlueShield plans outraged the American Hospital Assn. and other hospital groups earlier this year. An AHA spokesman said they welcomed the policy change. In a statement, JCAHO said it would continue mining data gathered during the accreditation process "to measure and encourage quality improvement."

N.Y. doctor new NMA board chair

The National Medical Assn. board of trustees elected Carolyn Barley Britton, MD, chair at the Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly in New York.

Dr. Britton is a New York neurologist and serves as associate professor of clinical neurology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and as associate attending physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Harlem Hospital Center. She is a recognized expert in neurology and infectious disease of the nervous system.

Before being elected NMA board chair in October, Dr. Britton had served as chair of the NMA finance committee, member of the board of trustees and chair of the neurology section. She also has served as the Manhattan Medical Society's president.

Medical college group has new leader

Darrell G. Kirch, MD, will take over as the new president of the Assn. of American Medical Colleges in July 2006.

Dr. Kirch is senior vice president of health affairs for Pennsylvania State University, dean of Penn State College of Medicine and chief executive officer of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He previously was dean of the school of medicine at the Medical College of Georgia.

Dr. Kirch will succeed AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, MD, who earlier this year announced plans to step down.