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California insurance regulators have proposed a rule to limit the ability of insurers of rescind insurance policies. The only way the insurer could rescind if the patient intentionally lied or omitted medical history when they applied for insurance. The problem is that the regs do not state that the insurer cannot rescind and wait to be sued. Top
The California legislature voted to place the infamous Chiropractic Board under the auspices of the Department of Consumer Affairs. The Governor vetoed the measure under pressure from his friends at the Chiropractic Board. The legislature then cut the funding in half for the Board. The Board has decided to suspend consideration of reinstating chiropractors with revoked licenses.
The North Carolina Medical Board is the only one in the country that will not allow physicians to participate in executions. This edict has been overturned by a state court but the lethal injection state procedure is being appealed to the US Supreme Court. The Court stated that a judicial execution is not a medical procedure and the only thing asked of a physician is to confirm death and to make sure the inmate does not suffer needlessly. Since it is not a medical procedure the Medical Board had no jurisdiction.
The Florida Board uses fines to discipline physicians. A physician was fined $25,000 for putting a chest tube in the wrong side of a patient. There were fines given to several other physicians as well.
The California health department has given the maximum fines allowed, $25,000, to nine hospitals for infractions that put patients in harms way. The hospitals are the now past tense King/Drew, Glendale Memorial, Garden Grove Hospital, Kaiser Hospital Santa Clara and Feather River Hospital, Enloe Medical Center, Hanford Community Hospital, St. Agnes in Fresno and Universal in Murietta. Kaiser, for some unexplained reason, is planning to appeal the fine. They should be used to it by now. The case was a medication error caused by human error that caused an infant death but Kaiser says it corrected the problem and should not be fined. Of course, five weeks after the problem, the pharmacy technicians still had not been given promised training on the correct use of scales. Top
The feds are recruiting 1200 physicians to get higher Medicare payments if they switch to electronic medical records. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this
article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.