Cost and Compensation of Injuries in Medical Malpractice

Compensation determinations for victims of medical malpractice were studied. Results showed that for birth-related and emergency room cases of permanent injury in Florida, a claimant receiving much more than economic loss in compensation more nearly appears to be the exception than the norm

Litigation and the Political Clout of the Tobacco Companies: Cigarette Taxes, Prices, and the Master Settlement Agreement

The goal of our empirical analysis is to assess whether the changes in cigarette excise taxes and cigarette prices can be attributed to litigation brought by the states and the resulting settlements, holding other factors constant. Using pre-post as well as state excise taxes on beer as controls, the evidence provides support for the view that litigation changes the political equilibrium: state cigarette excise taxes were approximately $0.10 higher in the post-MSA period. For tobacco prices, the increases are attributable to the method the settlement used to structure payments as well as the market structure of the cigarette industry.Master Settlement Agreement, excise tax, tobacco

Administrative Performance of “No-Fault” Compensation for Medical Injury

No-fault is the leading alternative to traditional liability systems for resolving medically caused injuries, and policy interest in such reform reflects numerous concerns with the traditional tort system as it operates in the medical field through malpractice insurance. The administrative experience of the Florida and Virginia no-fault programs is examined

Are Alcohol Excise Taxes Good For Us? Short and Long-Term Effects on Mortality Rates

Regression results from a 30-year panel of the state-level data indicate that changes in alcohol-excise taxes cause a reduction in drinking and lower all-cause mortality in the short run. But those results do not fully capture the long-term mortality effects of a permanent change in drinking levels. In particular, since moderate drinking has a protective effect against heart disease in middle age, it is possible that a reduction in per capita drinking will result in some people drinking "too little" and dying sooner than they otherwise would. To explore that possibility, we simulate the effect of a one percent reduction in drinking on all-cause mortality for the age group 35-69, using several alternative assumptions about how the reduction is distributed across this population. We find that the long-term mortality effect of a one percent reduction in drinking is essentially nil.