Articles Posted in Tort Reform in Georgia

Kudos to State Rep. Robert Mumford (R-Conyers) who on Tuesday introduced the Medical Malpractice Insurance Reform Act  . The bill wouldrequire the Insurance Commissioner to hold medical malpractice insurers tothe same rate-filing standards that auto and homeowner insurers have to meet. “We need to do everything we can to make sure people are able to…

When the Georgia General Assembly rushed two years ago to pass Senate Bill 3,  the sponsors could not be bothered with the tedious and time consuming committee work of careful legislative drafting, reflection, discussion and revision.  The result is the legislation is being picked apart piece by piece. The Court of Appeals has dissected a…

In the case of Zeier v. Zimmer, Inc.,  2006 Ok. 98 (12/19/06), the Oklahoma Supreme Court has held that a medical malpractice affidavit pleading requirement similar to the one adopted in Georgia violates a “special law” provision of the Oklahoma constitution similar to a provision of the Georgia constitution. The Oklahoma case is summarized by…

Yet another state Supreme Court has held that an arbitrary cap on damages violates the state constitution.  In Arrinton v. ER Physicians Group, APMC, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a $500,000.00 cap on medical malpractice damages was unconstitutional as failing to provide the plaintiffs an adequate remedy” as guaranteed under…

Last month there was a news story about the New Jersey Committee on Attorney Advertising, a panel appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey ruling that attorney advertisements that tout listings such as the “Super Lawyers” listings violate professional responsibility rules against ads that compare lawyers’ services or create an “unjustified expectation about results.” …

When the Georgia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 3 — the “tort reform” conglomeration — in February 2005, most of the legislators hadn’t even read the entire bill, most of its provisions were not discussed in any detail, and hardly anyone understood it. To say it had a lot of poor draftsmanship is an understatement. …

An article in today’s AJC, titled “Tort reform has bizarre consequence,” describes the absurd consequences of the “winner pays” rule enacted as part of last year’s tort reform legislation. A young woman who was the victim of sexual assault, and whose assailants were criminally convicted, is at risk to be forced to pay her assailants’…

A year ago the Georgia legislature passed and the Governor signed a sweeping tort reform bill, motivated in part by intimations — if not outright promises — that the result would be lower malpractice insurance premiums for doctors and hospitals. Now, according to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, five medical malpractice insurance companies filed…

2/13/06. Today the Georgia Supreme Court struck down one venue provision of last year’s tort reform legislation, but upheld another one. The Court unanimously affirmed Judge J. Antonio DelCampo of DeKalb County State Court, who in March ruled unconstitutional the section of last year’s tort reform legislation requiring judges to transfer a case to a…

In a report published by the Cato Institute’s magazine Regulation, professors Katherine Baicker of Dartmouth College and Amitabh Chandra of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University studied the impact of medical malpractice payments on medical liability insurance premiums, size of the physician workforce, and the use of “defensive” medicine. In each category, the…