News in brief - Aug. 21, 2006

N.H. board drops case against family physician - Michigan court upholds state expert witness rules - September earliest date to convene grand jury in Katrina murder case - UnitedHealth gives $10 million for California medical school feasibility study

N.H. board drops case against family physician

The New Hampshire Board of Medicine has voted to dismiss three complaints against Rochester, N.H., family physician Terry Bennett, MD, whose case attracted national attention for comments that patients claimed he made to them.

The board voted 4-2 on Aug. 2 to dismiss three complaints filed against Dr. Bennett, including one woman's claim that the doctor told her she was so obese that if her husband died she might only be desirable to black men.

The board will not appeal a June 30 court decision that halted the board's disciplinary hearings against the doctor. In his decision, Merrimack County (N.H.) Superior Court Judge Edward Fitzgerald III said he did not condone such comments but that, legally, a physician is allowed to speak freely.

Michigan court upholds state expert witness rules

The Michigan Supreme Court in July ruled 4-3 that plaintiff expert witnesses in medical liability lawsuits must have the same professional credentials in the same specialty, including subspecialties, as the defendant physician. The expert does not, however, have to match the qualifications a defendant doctor may have that are in an area of medicine that is not relevant to the alleged injury, the high court said.

The decision clarified Michigan's 1994 tort reform measure that outlined the criteria a medical expert must meet in order to testify about the standard of care in a medical liability case.

The Michigan State Medical Society, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, praised the high court's ruling, saying it will help prevent unfounded testimony from entering the courtroom.

"It's important because only an expert that has the same qualifications and actually practices in that area is qualified to testify whether or not the defendant met the standard of practice," said MSMS legal counsel Daniel J. Schulte.

The Michigan Trial Lawyers Assn. had argued that the ruling would hurt patients with legitimate claims.

The decision "cheapens [doctors'] actual certifications and will end up costing doctors and injured patients more money as even more medical professionals will have to be hauled into court in even more complex proceedings in order to find out who was negligent and who was responsible," said attorney C. Jesse Green, MTLA spokesman.

September earliest date to convene grand jury in Katrina murder case

A grand jury investigation into accusations that a physician and two nurses murdered four patients at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina won't begin until after Labor Day, at the earliest, according to the office of Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan. After an 11-month probe, Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti Jr. arrested Anna Maria Pou, MD , and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry, accusing them of second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence. But Jordan must convene a grand jury to investigate the case before filing any formal charges, and the grand jury must agree that the charges should have a life sentence or execution as punishments. If the grand jury finds no cause, lesser charges can be filed.

Through their attorneys, Dr. Pou, Budo and Landry have denied the accusations. The women have been released on their own recognizance.

UnitedHealth gives $10 million for California medical school feasibility study

UnitedHealth Group recently contributed $10 million to study the feasibility of opening new medical schools at the University of California's Riverside and Merced campuses and to bolster the health science departments at schools in underserved communities. The donation was part of the health insurer's commitment to give $50 million to charity in return for state approval of its acquisition of PacifiCare Health Systems.

The donation, to be distributed over three years, will be divided equally between the two schools.

California's rapid population growth, small increases in the number of allopathic and osteopathic medical graduates and limits on residency programs are expected to result in a physician shortage for the state by 2015, according to a study by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the State University of New York, Albany.