North Carolina Medical Society - NCMS Bulletin

Volume 61 Issue 6 – February 12, 2010

Featured Stories

Medicare Physician Payment Update

On Thursday, the AMA informed the NCMS that Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT) and ranking member Charles Grassley (R-IA) had released the draft of a bipartisan jobs bill, known as the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, which has several provisions that impact health care.

NC Supreme Court Puts Aside Critical Questions re: Community Standard of Care

The General Assembly enacted legislation in 1976 limiting physician liability to situations where the plaintiff proves that the defendant physician failed to meet the applicable standard in the same or similar communities. Recently, the NC Court of Appeals in Swink v. Weintraub declined to reverse a decision against Dr. Weintraub even though the trial court admitted testimony from plaintiff’s medical experts who were not required to testify, as to their opinions, in the context of the “same or similar community” standard of care. Read on for more details on the case and decision and to see how the NCMS is responding…

Senator Burr Updates His Position on Health Care Reform Legislation

U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) continues to oppose H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In a letter to the NCMS (January 29, 2010), Burr explained that he voted against the bill because he does not believe the legislation “is the right prescription for America’s health care system.”