Health Court Info

Project Citizen

2006-05-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

The objective of Project Citizen is to identify a problem in your community. Then think of alternatives that could fix the problem. Once you decide on a public policy, an agreed upon way that our federal, state, or local government fulfills its responsibilities, you take different actions to both increase awareness and fundamentally correct the problem.

Alternatives

2006-05-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

As a class, we came up with 4 major alternatives to solving Medical Malpractice. The pros we came with are in blue, and the cons are in red.

Monitors / Cameras:

Missoui voted a bill, H131304, that would have required compelling evidence of liability for punitive damages
We can catch everything on tape / camera, so there is proof if a patient is willing to sue.
Bill from Missouri did not pass
Violation on patients privacy monitors and cameras are expensive, and it might be a problem to install them

(Another) Doctor Strike:
In 2003, there was a Doctor's strike which was an alternative made to try and fix the Medical Malpractice Crisis. Doctors from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia participated.

It allowed doctors to get their points across.
It allowed the citizens to pay attention and learn.
For the doctors that acted in the strike, they basically achieved nothing.
Caused many problems concerning the shortage of doctors in hospitals.
Doctors could be sued for leaving patients in need of care.

Conclusion: On balance, this does not seem like a good alternative.

Damage Caps:

Would restrict patients from sueing for outrageous amounts of money.
Would decrease Medical Malpractice premiums.
Doesn't completely eliminate the Medical MalPractice crisis.
Undeserving patients would still get money.

Health Courts:

Medical experts would know the difference from Medical Malpractice and common occurences.
The "sympathy factor" would be eliminated with out a jury.
Premiums would stop rising with less cases going in the patients favor.

Our Goal

2006-05-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

Medical Malpractice is a major problem that not many people know about when it's happening in their own state. We want to increase awareness and ultimately change the law about civil cases in New Jersey. We hope by changing the law and having Health Courts listen to Medical Malpractice cases, Malpractice Premiums will go down and let doctors stay in New Jersey.

The Problem

2006-05-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

The problem our class is researching is Medical Malpractice. After taking a recent survey, 55% answered that Medical Malpractice has affected them personally. Over 225,000 die from real medical malpractice cases each year

Links

2006-05-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

BlueStone Lawfirm

I opened my own law office in 1989, The Law Firm of Andrew Lavoott Bluestone.
During that period I have tried both plaintiff and defendant cases, in general
negligence, commercial litigation, medical malpractice, attorney malpractice
[both plaintiff's and uninsured defendants], as well as real estate matters,
landlord-tenant matters.

Harvard's Medical Malpractice Case Study

WASHINGTON -- About 40 per cent of the medical malpractice cases filed in
the United States are groundless, according to a Harvard analysis of the hotly
debated issue that pits trial lawyers against doctors, with lawmakers in the
middle.
Many of the lawsuits analyzed contained no evidence that a medical
error was committed or that the patient suffered any injury, the researchers
reported.

Frequently Asked Questions

2006-05-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical Malpractice is an act or a failure to act by a physician that doesn't meet regular standards, and causes harm or injury to a patient.
How does medical malpractice effect doctors of New Jersey?
Medical Malpractice drives doctors from their practices.
How does medical malpractifce effect citizens of New Jersey not involved?
Medical malpractice drives doctors in New Jersey away from their practices, making it harder to find a specialist when you need one.
What is a medical malpractice premium?
The amount of money that a physician pays his or her insurance company to be insured.
What is a damage cap? A maximum amount a patient can recover as compensation for Medical Malpractice.
What is a health court? A health court is a place where citizens who wish to sue for Medical Malpractice have cases heard by a body of specialists rather than a jury.