News in brief - June 12, 2006

Pa. medical liability case filings fall - N.C. board to address physician role in executions - Arizona physician says county violated his freedom of speech - Trauma group founder honored - Survey: Most diabetics miss out on critical tests

Pa. medical liability case filings fall

Medical liability case filings across Pennsylvania dropped 38% in 2005 when compared with average numbers for 2000 to 2002. New statistics released by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court also showed that in Philadelphia, which has a reputation for high jury verdicts, filings decreased 55% in 2005 when compared with the same earlier period.

High court officials and the Pennsylvania Medical Society credit two important judicial reforms passed in 2002 under the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act. The law requires lawyers to file a certificate of merit, and it prohibits venue shopping by requiring lawsuits to be filed in the county where the alleged incident occurred.

The medical society says that although the data are evidence of positive change, reforms are still needed to combat the large jury awards and insurance payouts that still plague the legal system and keep medical liability premiums at high levels.

The American Medical Association has labeled Pennsylvania one of 22 crisis states because insurance rates are driving doctors there to move out of state, retire early or stop performing high-risk procedures.

N.C. board to address physician role in executions

The North Carolina Medical Board in July will examine the issue of physician participation in executions and consider if the board should adopt policy concerning the matter.

The board is responding to a half-dozen letters it received about physicians taking part in executions. State law says a physician must be present at executions but remain in an adjoining room, board officials said. The American Medical Association opposes physician involvement in executions.

The board's executive committee on May 17 referred the issue to the board's policy committee, which will explore the matter at its July 19 meeting.

Arizona physician says county violated his freedom of speech

A former ob-gyn residency director in Arizona has amended his lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court against officials overseeing the Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix. He's now saying that county officials violated his freedom of speech when they fired him.

J. Christopher Carey, MD, said he was fired "for publicly supporting abortion training for residents" and was discriminated against because of his moral and religious beliefs in favor of abortion rights. According to the lawsuit, the hospital fired Dr. Carey because he included his wife's real estate business card in mailings to residents.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors said the county would not comment because of the ongoing litigation.

Dr. Carey, however, was willing to speak.

"Over the course of 18 months, county officials engaged in a relentless crusade to prevent residents at the medical center from getting abortion training, with no regard for fairness or accreditation requirements," he said in a statement. "Every time I spoke out, they retaliated, launching bogus investigations, spreading false statements to ruin my reputation and ultimately, firing me."

A spokesman for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which makes sure residencies maintain set standards, such as abortion training for ob-gyn residents, said the organization was investigating the allegations and had not reached a decision yet. The ACGME gave the program full accreditation for four years in October 2003.

Trauma group founder honored

The founder of a group devoted to offering support to patients and health professionals in the aftermath of adverse events was recognized for her work at the eighth annual NPSF Patient Safety Congress in San Francisco last month. The National Patient Safety Foundation, which organized the conference, awarded Linda K. Kenney its inaugural Socius Award for her work as executive director of Medically Induced Trauma Support Services. The 4-year-old nonprofit group operates a 24-hour support hotline, offers support sessions with a clinical psychologist and provides Web resources for victims of medical error.

In 1999, Kenney was due for ankle surgery but went into full cardiac arrest when nerve block was mistakenly delivered to her heart. She came away convinced of the need for better support systems for patients, families, physicians and other health professionals struggling emotionally in the wake of medical error. The Socius Award is taken from the Latin word for "partner" and is intended to honor patient-physician partnerships in patient safety. MITSS has so far partnered with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston as well as the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety.

NPSF also awarded its Chairman's Medal to Doug Bonacum and Suzanne Graham, PhD, for leading the Kaiser Permanente integrated health system's efforts to improve health-care team communication and implement an automated medical record.

Survey: Most diabetics miss out on critical tests

Less than half of the United States' 14 million adults with diabetes receive three critical annual tests, according to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality survey. The interviews conducted in 2003 as part of the most recently available Medicare Expenditure Panel Survey found that only 40% of adult diabetics received a hemoglobin A1c test, an eye exam and a foot exam in the previous year. About 50% said they had at least one of the exams while just 4.6% said they hadn't received any of the exams. The United States could save about $2.5 billion in hospital costs every year, AHRQ has estimated, if all diabetics received proper primary care to avoid complications such as blindness and gangrene.