Colorado now requires doctors to self report medical malpractice claims that have resulted in settlement or plaintiffs' verdict under the Michael Skolnik Medical Transparency Act in 2007. The Act is named for a patient who Skolnik died in June of 2004 after he had surgery done by a doctor who'd been
the subject of a malpractice claim in another state.
Sounds like good new for patients looking to determine whether there are medical malpractice claims against their doctor. But it is up to the doctor to self-report malpractice claims and the Colorado will no auditing their
entries. The risk for Colorado doctors: $5,000 for failure to report each malpractice claim. So doctors who choose to hide something, believing it could be bad for business so they are willing to risk the $5,000,
will have to be caught by a patient, rather than someone from the state of Colorado.
This is progress but we need more progress. This new Colorado law is the right start, it just needs sharper teeth.
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