Medical malpractice

Government mandates are driving up healthcare costs in NC

Instead of top-down mandates, the state should encourage the use of existing tools like value-based arrangements and the sharing of data by providers.

Peter T. Daniel

Central planning fails in health care

We live and work in a mostly free economy — but a spate of year-end stories demonstrated a prominent exception. Triad Business Journal reported that Novant Health, based in Winston-Salem, sought permission to build a $249 million hospital in Asheville focused on cancer treatment. Its application was denied in favor of a rival proposal from...

John Hood

The W(rong)PATH on gender medicine

WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) produces standards of care that are considered the gold standard for transgender care. Colleges, universities, the media, and even churches adopted WPATH’s approach, whether or not they realized where it came from. Recent revelations have shown that not all that glitters is gold. More than 100 pages of...

Mark Herring

Rules of evidence shouldn’t treat Advanced Practice Nurses like second-class providers

In North Carolina, the category of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) includes Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Certified Nurse Midwives, Clinical Nurse Specialists, and Nurse Practitioners. APRNs already play an important role in North Carolina’s health care system, and, if the N.C. General Assembly grants them a level of independence commensurate with their training and expertise,...

Jon Guze

Recent ruling highlights importance of sticking to constitutional limits

An Appeals Court judge recognizes the limits of his job. He refuses to ignore a decades-old precedent.

Mitch Kokai

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NCGA Overrides Five Perdue Vetoes — Who Benefits?

RALEIGH — With the help of a handful of conservative-leaning Democrats in the House, the GOP majority last week successfully overrode Perdue’s vetoes of five bills, including those addressing tort reform, abortion restrictions, and a regulatory overhaul.

NCGA Set to Send $19.6 Billion Budget to Perdue

RALEIGH — Unofficial plans are for the legislature to adjourn by June 17 and reconvene for special sessions in July and September to resolve redistricting and to pass constitutional amendments.

NCGA Preview: Week of April 25

RALEIGH — The budget and redistricting will dominate discussion and debate this week at the General Assembly. Tort reform, property rights, a tax credit for private education, and offshore drilling also are on the agenda.

Sara Burrows

Republicans Chop Additional $1.4 Billion from Perdue Budget

RALEIGH — Republican leaders and Gov. Bev Perdue sparred over a budget resolution, unemployment benefits, and extending temporary taxes imposed in 2009. House committees rolled out their first detailed budget proposals.

Sara Burrows

NCGA Finds Plenty to Do in Crowded Eighth Week

RALEIGH — Lawmakers are finding plenty to occupy themselves during the long session that reached its two-month anniversary on Wednesday. Legislators squabbled over medical malpractice reform, strengthening access to public records, expanding protections for unborn children, and requiring voters present a valid ID at the polls.

Doctors Face Off Against Lawyers Over Malpractice Bill

RALEIGH — The bill has brought on a battle of the titans — physician-advocacy groups versus trial-lawyer associations, the latter of which reap monetary rewards from winning big-ticket malpractice cases on behalf of patients.