Tony was quoted as part of the discussion about the new rule governing medical malpractice tribunals that is set to go into effect January 1, 2018. In an effort towards getting cases resolved more quickly, the new rule proposes tighter timeframes.
The article, “Med-mal bar skeptical about new tribunal role,” by Pat Murphy for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s November 27, 2017 edition, discusses what these changes mean for the plaintiff’s and as well as the defense team.
“What’s essentially broken about the process is that it can’t be done in the timeframe that’s allotted by the statute.” Tony said. The new rule, proposed by the Superior Court, shifts many of the burdens of convening the tribunal from the Court to defendant medical providers. As Tony noted, the Court was constrained in its efforts to reform the Tribunal process within the requirements of the statute. Among Tony’s other comments, he noted that one of the notable and troubling changes requires non-physician medical providers who want a tribunal to seek out medical providers for the panel from their own licensing board rather than the Massachusetts Medical Society.
Tony also recommended a possible Legislative fix to the statutory scheme.
