From the AAOS daily physician newsletter, via the Boston Herald:
A commission set up by the Massachusetts state legislature more than a year ago to examine whether the state should create a medical liability court has never once held a meeting, the Boston Herald reported. The 12-member commission, consisting of state senators, representatives and individuals appointed by the governor, was required to submit a report on its findings by Feb. 1, 2005. A task force created at the same time to look into medical liability issues also never convened.
Why would you bother meeting? It's not like there's a malpractice insurance problem in the state. It's not like physicians are leaving in droves. Oh, wait ... oops, my bad.
State malpractice grade bodes ill: D- may speed doc shortage
The alarming shortage of doctors in the state could spiral into a “crisis” now that Massachusetts has been judged one of the worst states in the nation for malpractice rates, worried physicians say.
"We’re trying to sound the alarms,” Dr. Alan Harvey, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said yesterday. “It’s very much a concern for physicians in Massachusetts and it’s not improving.”
He spoke after the state earned a D-minus for its medical liability environment from the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Massachusetts doctors say medical malpractice insurance rates are through the roof, with obstetricians shelling out $97,000 a year. Medical liability insurance in Massachusetts spiked more than 50 percent from 2001 to 2004.