Nevada, West Virginia Deal With Issues Related to Medical Malpractice
Two newspapers recently featured articles related to medical malpractice. Summaries appear below.
- Nevada: The Medical Liability Association of Nevada might become private if the Nevada Division of Insurance approves its application, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. MLAN, a not-for-profit, was created by the state in 2002 as a temporary solution to the shortage of medical malpractice liability insurers in Nevada. Early last month, MLAN expressed its interest in becoming a domestic reciprocal insurer -- a private entity that is owned entirely by its insured or policyholders -- by the end of this year. If its application is approved, the company would be renamed the Independent Nevada Doctors Insurance Exchange. MLAN insures about 650 doctors in the state (Wells, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8/1).
- West Virginia: HCA announced that it will close Putnam General Hospital by Aug. 29 as a result of numerous malpractice lawsuits pending against the hospital and one of its former surgeons, the Charleston Gazette reports. John King performed more than 500 surgeries between December 2002 and June 2003, when the hospital revoked his license, and he now has more than 100 lawsuits pending against him. The 68-bed facility was in operation for 25 years and has about 350 employees. Hospital workers will continue to be paid and receive benefits through Sept. 30. HCA in July 2005 announced it would sell four West Virginia hospitals to LifePoint Hospitals of Brentwood, Tenn., but Putnam was excluded from the deal. HCA officials allege that personal-injury lawyers prevented Putnam from being sold. An official statement from HCA read, "They have filed lawsuits to block the sale of the hospital to LifePoint and, in our view, have engaged in a coordinated campaign that has spread misinformation about Putnam General and eroded the public's trust in our employees and affiliated physicians." Curry & Tolliver and Tabor Lindsay and Associates, two law firms representing most of the patients who are suing King and the hospital, said in a statement, "HCA's management is to be held accountable for poor credentialing and privileging practices that put those patients in harm's way. In doing so, HCA brought discredit to its own medical staff and its other loyal and faithful employees." HCA officials plan to open an urgent care facility at the site (Nyden, Charleston Gazette, 8/2).
