Objective. To investigate the perspectives of resident physicians, in otolaryngology and other specialties, with respect to various health care reform proposals. Also, to determine if these opinions vary between residents training to become general medical doctors versus surgeons and specialists and between those with various levels of educational debt. Study Design and Participants. Survey of ...

In this paper, we examine the link between innovative activity on the part of firms, the competitive pressure to introduce innovations and optimal damages awards. While innovative activity brings forth valuable new products for consumers, competitive pressure in the ensuing innovation race induces firms to launch innovations too early, thereby raising the likelihood of severe product risks abov...

The system of tort liability for medical malpractice is frequently criticized for poorly performing its theoretical functions of compensating injured patients, deterring negligence, and dispensing corrective justice. Working from an actual malpractice case involving serious injury but no apparent negligence, the authors explore these criticisms from the perspectives of both the plaintiff-patien...

For the past decade, federal judges have been obligated to serve as gatekeepers and keep scientifically unreliable and irrelevant expert testimony out of the courtroom. The exacting evidentiary standards set forth in the landmark Daubert decision have had a significant impact on numerous areas of legal dispute. Toxic tort litigation, in particular, has been transformed by the standards. This Ar...

Not all medical injuries are the result of negligence. In fact, most medical injuries are the result either of the inherent risk in the practice of medicine, or due to system errors, which cannot be prevented simply through fear of disciplinary action. This paper will discuss the differences between adverse events, negligence, and system errors; the current medical malpractice tort system in th...

Medical malpractice cases are a matter of much concern in many countries including Malaysia where several cases caught the attention of the public and authorities. Although comprehensive annual statistics on medical negligence claims are not available in Malaysia since such data are not collected systematically in this country there are indications of an upward trend. Medical malpractice cases ...

This paper evaluates the impact of six different types of tort reforms on the frequency, size, and number of total annual settlements in medical malpractice cases between 1991 and 1998. Medical malpractice data come from the National Practitioner Data Bank, which contains more than 100,000 malpractice settlement payments in the study time frame. Of the six tort reforms examined, two reforms (ca...

It is not the purpose of this article to discuss all the situations in which damages are awarded by the New Jersey Court of Chancery, for all the decisions stem from one general rule, namely, that whenever a court of equity has once acquired jurisdiction of a cause, it will retain such cause in order to do full and complete justice between the parties with respect to the subject-matter. This ru...

In response to concerns that jury awards in tort cases are excessive and unpredictable, nearly every state legislature has enacted some version of tort reform that is intended to curb extravagant damage awards. One of the most important and controversial reforms involves capping (or limiting) the maximum punitive damage award. We conducted a jury analogue study to assess the impact of this refo...