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Lawmakers Pass Limited Medical Liability Bill,
MMS Vows to Continue Push for More Adequate Reform
by Tom Walsh
Having achieved only limited success in their
efforts to persuade state lawmakers to reform the Massachusetts
medical liability system, MMS leaders vowed to push on with their
campaign to overhaul a "broken" system that has forced some physicians
to leave practice and threatened to further curb patient access
to care.
The state legislature was poised to adjourn
in July, having enacted, as an amendment to the state budget bill,
just one tangible reform -- a reduction in the prejudgment interest
rate from 12 percent to a floating rate tied to the financial markets.
But even at that, this only applies to malpractice cases filed after
July 1. The new law also sets up a study commission to research
the liability system, with a report due by next Feb. 15. more
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