Court allows NJ to go public with malpractice data

A court decision will allow the state of New Jersey to make medical malpractice data for physicians and podiatrists available to the public on the Internet and via a toll-free telephone line.

The U.S. District Court of New Jersey upheld the constitutionality of a state statute that requires the malpractice to be made public. The Medical Society of New Jersey went to court to try to block publication of medical malpractice claim settlements arguing it would void confidentiality provisions of existing settlement contracts. The court ruled that nothing in federal law or the Constitution bars the release of information on medical malpractice payments submitted to the state by malpractice insurers.