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Medical Malpractice Reforms Approved In Massachusetts

    A new law in Massachusetts has overhauled medical malpractice procedures.  WAMC”s Paul Tuthill reports.

   The state’s new healthcare cost containment  law, signed by Governor Patrick  requires doctors to disclose when they’ve made a medical error. It establishes a 182 day cooling off period before a medical malpractice case can go to trial. It mandates an exchange of information between a plaintiff and defendant.  Supporters of the changes say the new provisions will encourage  parties to reach settlements prior to court  and  improve patient safety by allowing doctors to better report mistakes and learn  from them..

Paul Tuthill is WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief. He’s been covering news, everything from politics and government corruption to natural disasters and the arts, in western Massachusetts since 2007. Before joining WAMC, Paul was a reporter and anchor at WRKO in Boston. He was news director for more than a decade at WTAG in Worcester. Paul has won more than two dozen Associated Press Broadcast Awards. He won an Edward R. Murrow award for reporting on veterans’ healthcare for WAMC in 2011. Born and raised in western New York, Paul did his first radio reporting while he was a student at the University of Rochester.