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Medical liability cases drop in Pennsylvania

Medical liability lawsuit filings in Pennsylvania dropped for the fifth straight year, according to state Supreme Court statistics released in April.

New claims fell 4%, from 1,602 in 2008 to 1,533 in 2009. The 2009 numbers marked a 47% decline from the 2,904 filings recorded in 2002, when lawmakers passed a series of tort reform measures.

In particular, the high court attributed the improvements to two key judicial reforms that required lawyers to include a certificate of merit with each case, and to file suit in the county where the alleged incident occurred to prevent what is known as venue shopping. The Pennsylvania Medical Society backed the changes.

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Vaccination against 1976 virus leads to stronger immune response to H1N1

People who were immunized against influenza A(Hsw1N1) in 1976 might have some immunity against the 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus, according to a study posted online April 23 in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

In August 2009, researchers examined 116 people age 55 and older who either worked at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., or who were married to an employee. The study was conducted before the H1N1 vaccine was available.

Among the participants, 39.7% (46 people) had received the 1976 Hsw1N1 vaccine, and 94.1% (106 people) had 2008-09 seasonal influenza vaccine.

More than 17% of those vaccinated against Hsw1N1 produced antibodies that neutralized the pandemic 2009 H1N1 strain and blocked it from infecting cells.

Researchers said it is unclear if the participants' immune response was enough to protect against the 2009 H1N1 virus, but findings point to a lingering benefit from the 1976 vaccine (www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/652441).

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Free health literacy tool kit offered by AHRQ

One in three Americans have limited health literacy, studies show. That is a challenge for physicians trying to ensure that patients understand and stick to treatment plans. A quality improvement tool issued in April by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality aims to help doctors tackle the problem head on.

The free, Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit is an online searchable, interactive digital reference guide and action plan that includes resources on how to improve medication adherence, communicate more clearly with patients and implement the "teach-back method" to assure patients understand instructions.

Physician offices and hospitals using the tool kit can assess their baseline performance and measure improvement over time.

The resource is available at the ARHQ website (www.ahrq.gov/qual/literacy).

This content was published online only.

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