Medical Malpractice News

Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Premium Assistance Fund

The Department of Banking and Insurance (“Department”) is issuing this public notice as required by N.J.S.A. 17:30D-28 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 11:27-7 regarding the determination of eligibility for a premium subsidy for 2005 (payable in 2006) from the Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Premium Assistance Fund (the “Fund”) in accordance with N.J.S.A. 17:30D-30a(2) and N.J.A.C. 11:27-7.5. The background of the Fund, and applicable statute and rules, are discussed below.

The New Jersey Medical Care Access and Responsibility and Patients First Act, P.L. 2004, c.17 (the “Act”), provided for changes to the medical malpractice liability system to ensure that the residents of this State have access to highly-trained health care practitioners in all specialties. One of the means by which the Act seeks to achieve this goal is the establishment of the Fund, which is intended to provide premium subsidies to certain practitioners and health care providers, as defined in the Act, to help ensure that access to care in particular specialties or subspecialties is not threatened as a result of the cost of medical malpractice liability insurance in this State. Monies to be distributed from the Fund are to be obtained through assessments on various parties, as set forth in N.J.S.A. 17:30-29. The Department is responsible for the administration of the Fund but not for the imposition and collection of the assessments. Pursuant to the Act, the assessments for the Fund and the disbursements of the subsidies are to occur annually over a three-year period. Read more at state.nj.us

Please contact us if anyone you know has suffered from debilitating injuries due to medical malpractice in Washington.

	Did You Know?
	Drug-switching practices happen and are very dangerous Another public-spirited drug giant, Merck, was forced to pay a settlement of $1.9 million to 17 states in 1995 for drug-switching practices involving its Medco subsidiary. Medco pharmacists, who had given excessively favorable treatment to Merck products, were thereafter required to reveal their Merck connection to their customers.