LEGISLATION
California Assembly Bill 1184, which strengthens the present law preventing Registered Nurses (RNs), Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs) from being forced to work overtime in state facilities, has been sent to the governor.
California Senate Bill 614, which would allow midwives to furnish Schedule 2 drugs under circumstances similar to those required for furnishing Schedule 3, 4, and 5 drugs, has been sent to the governor.
In late October 2005, the Senate Judiciary Committee adopted legislation that would immediately increase the number of visas available to foreign nurses and other health-care professionals, effectively doubling the total number of these visas (AHA News Now, October 21, 2005).
The Wisconsin state legislature is considering legislation banning mandatory overtime for nurses, except in cases of unforeseen emergencies, which would prevent facilities from requiring nurses and other staff involved in direct patient care from working more than 8, 10, or 12 hours a day, or more than 40 hours per week (AONE eNews Update, October 21, 2005).
The governor of Illinois has signed into law legislation capping noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases at US$500,000 for individual physicians and US$1 million for hospitals. The law also expands the required reporting by insurance companies as to the data they use to set malpractice insurance rates, how these cases are resolved, and what, if any, payment is made. These data will be made available to the public.
The US House of Representatives has passed a bill, H.R. 5, capping noneconomic damages in medical malpractice litigation to US$250,000. The bill also limited attorney's fees and restricted the circumstances under which plaintiffs may seek punitive damages.
In the US Senate, a bill has been introduced to create a program within the Department of Health and Human Services to encourage disclosure and analysis of medical errors and early compensation for patients while reducing medical liability costs and offering protection for disclosures and apologies (AHA News Now, September 29, 2005).
NEWS
According to the US Department of Justice, the federal government collected over US$1.4 billion in judgments and settlements under the False Claims Act for fiscal year 2005. Of that amount, $1.1 billion was collected from corporations alleged to have committed health-care fraud such as false billing to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health insurance programs (US Collects $1.4 Billion for False Claims in 2005, 11 No. 6 Andrews health Care Fraud Litigation Reporter 7, December 7, 2005).
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has launched a program to help clinicians and patients determine which drugs and other medical treatments work best for certain health conditions. More information is available at http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov.
The American Hospital Association and other national health-care organizations have announced the Surgical Care Improvement Project. The project will provide evidence-based educational and clinical management tools proven to reduce the most common surgical complications. For more information, go to http://www.hospitalconnect.com.
Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
As of January 2006, Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations will conduct up to a 5% random sample of on-site surveys to validate statements made in the evidence of standards compliance submissions.
For 2006, Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has established new thresholds for determining conditional accreditation and preliminary denial of accreditation decisions. More information can be obtained at http://www.jcrinc.com/subscribers/perspectives.asp?durki=27.
Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has expanded the list of sentinel events subject to review to include severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and radiation overdose involving prolonged fluoroscopy with a cumulative dose of more than 1500 Rad to a single field or any delivery of radiotherapy to the wrong body region or more than 25% above the planned radiotherapy dose.
Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has published a guide to improving staff communication, available at its website, http://www.jcrinc.com/infomart.
CASES
A couple has filed a fraud and breach of contract suit against their health insurance company for refusing to allow a specialist to treat their child for a rare form of dwarfism (Zembsch v Health Net of California, 11 No. 6 Andrews Health Care Fraud Litigation Reporter 14, December 7, 2005).
A nursing home in Missouri is the target of 2 lawsuits filed in federal court, alleging that substandard care caused the deaths of 2 former residents (Gray v Mariner Health Center, 13 No. 7 Andrews Health Law Litigation Reporter 9, November 23, 2005).
A woman who contracted hepatitis C from the transplant of a contaminated kidney has sued the facility that harvested the kidney. This class action lawsuit has been removed to federal court and alleges that the hospital failed to properly screen the cadaver for hepatitis C before harvesting the organs (Steele v Jewish Hospital Healthcare Services, 13 No. 7 Andrews Health Law Litigation Reporter 10, November 23, 2005).
The Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled that the parents of fertilized eggs cannot sue the Mayo Clinic for wrongful death by losing the eggs because these eggs were not viable fetuses. However, the court did note that the parents may have claims for negligent loss of property, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract (Jeter v Mayo Clinic Arizona, 13 No. 7 Andrews Health Law Litigation Reporter 11, November 23, 2005).
The California statute, that tolls the limitations period for a medical malpractice action does not apply to a claim for enhanced remedies under that state's Elder Abuse Act (Smith v Bennett, Inc, California Courts of Appeal 4th District, Case E035349, November 10, 2005).
A Philadelphia hospital has been sued by 3 black employees for allegedly giving in to the demands of a white man who did not want any blacks participating in the delivery of his child. Plaintiff employees claimed that this incident was part of a pattern and practice of disparate treatment of black employees (Ray v Abington Memorial Hospital, 13 No. 6 Andrews Health Law Litigation Reporter 6, October 19, 2005).
A proposed class action suit in Florida's federal court has been dismissed. This case alleged that a Cape Coral hospital failed to provide affordable emergency care for uninsured patients (Nash v Lee Memorial Health System, 13 No. 5 Andrews Health Law Litigation Reporter 5, September 21, 2005).
VERDICTS/SETTLEMENTS
Four surgeons in California have settled a federal lawsuit alleging unnecessary heart surgery procedures for US$32.5 million. The payments will go to federal and state health insurance plans as well as to the victims of the allegedly unnecessary surgeries. The settlement of this case brings to an end the litigation over allegations that the physicians at Redding Medical Center performed hundreds of unnecessary heart surgeries from 1995 to 2002 (United States v Tenet Healthcare, 11 No. 6 Andrews Health Care Fraud Litigation Reporter 4, December 7, 2005).
Defendants in a federal suit against 3 St. Louis nursing homes, their management firm, and 2 executives have settled for US$1.25 million with federal and state authorities. The suit alleged fraud in billing Medicare and Medicaid for substandard care. The defendants are also excluded from participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs as a condition of the settlement (United States v United HealthCare Management, 11 No. 6 Andrews Health Care Fraud Litigation Reporter 6, December 7, 2005).
A former nursing home operator has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, pleading guilty to 2 felonies in connection with a scheme in which he allegedly filed false financial statements to obtain licenses and funding to run the facilities (United States v Cooper, 11 No. 5 Andrews Health Care Fraud Litigation Reporter 9, November 7, 2005).
A national chain of nursing homes has settled with the state of California for US$2.5 million as part of an agreement to resolve alleged violations of a 2001 court order to improve the quality of care provided at its facilities in that state. Additional terms of the agreement include implementation of dozens of reforms, increasing the size of the nursing staff, and hiring an independent wound care monitor (People v Sun Healthcare Group, 13 No. 6 Andrews Health Law Litigation Reporter 12, October 19, 2005).
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