Healthcare Legal Reforms in Iowa and Florida

Recently, some positive developments have taken place in the world of medical malpractice reform. On Tuesday, the Iowa House approved a bill that would require medical malpractice lawsuits to be reviewed by special panels before proceeding to trial. If passed, the bill would increase courtroom efficiency and help cut down on healthcare costs.

We have good news from Florida as well. There, the state legislature brought forth two new medical malpractice bills; the first would raise the burden of proof for malpractice lawsuits and decrease expert witness fraud, while the second would offer additional protections for hospitals.

Unfortunately, recent medical malpractice reform efforts didn’t go so well in Georgia. The Georgia trial lawyer lobby successfully killed a bill that would have put more certainty into malpractice claims while increasing the number of victims who actually receive compensation. Let’s hope that legislators in Florida and Idaho are able to stand up to trial lawyers and push through their reforms!