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By Alex Stein To be able to sue the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), an aggrieved person must first present his claim to the appropriate agency within two years of the claim’s accrual.…
By Alex Stein On October 18, Maryland’s Court of Appeals has delivered a precedential ruling on the applicability of the state’s limitation and repose statutes to suits for wrongful death that allegedly resulted from medical malpractice.…
By Alex Stein Oregon has a statute capping noneconomic damages recoverable in medical malpractice suits at $500,000. The Oregon Supreme Court decided that this cap is unconstitutional insofar as it clashes with a person’s right to…
By Alex Stein Medical malpractice suits reach federal courts through two channels: diversity and the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). The FTCA framework was set up (inter alia) for suits against doctors working at veterans hospitals…
By Alex Stein When Sir Henry Maine wrote (here, on page 389) that early substantive law was “secreted in the interstices of procedure,” he did not know that he was coining a long-lasting adage. Even less…
By Alex Stein This method was pioneered by South Dakota and Indiana that set up special “informed consent” requirements for abortion procedures, SDCL § 34-23A-10.1 and IC 16-34-2-1.1. Under these requirements, physicians must tell the pregnant…
By Alex Stein Damage caps are widespread. A typical cap provision precludes medical malpractice victims from recovering more than a specified sum for pain, suffering and other noneconomic harms. These caps vary between $250,000 (as in…
By Alex Stein In my previous post, I outlined the legal framework for arbitrating disputes over medical malpractice. Here, I consider whether arbitration is likely to become a forum of choice for doctors and patients. I…
By Alex Stein Can a healthcare provider make an arbitration agreement with patients for resolving future malpractice disputes? This question has no straightforward answer. As an initial matter, one needs to separate individual arbitration agreements between…
