In short, the governor of Iowa signed into law a comprehensive malpractice reform law for the state of Iowa. The bill enacts the following:1. A $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages: Lowers medical liability insurance premiums and reduces overall healthcare

costs.2. Strengthened the expert witness standards: Requires that an expert witness has been in active practice or teaching

at a medical school within the previous five years, and be of the same medical specialty as the defendant physician.3. A certificate of merit in all suits: Within 90 days of a plaintiff filing a suit, a medical expert must certify, in writing, how

the care in question failed to meet the appropriate standards of care. If an expert is unable to identify a breach in the standard of care, the case may be dismissed.

4. Affirmative defense for evidence-based medicine: Does not limit a patient’s right to file a malpractice suit against a provider; it does, however, allow the practitioner to point to evidence-based medical guidelines as a defense should a claim be filed, leading to quicker disposal of meritless claims. In addition, it gives physicians added peace of mind that practicing good medicine is not going to end in a lengthy malpractice suit which ultimately is found in their favor, but not until they have lost countless hours with patients and spent thousands of dollars on legal fees. This affirmative defense is a voluntary measure that can only be invoked by the physician as a part of his or her defense.

5. Limiting contingency fee arrangements: Enacts a uniform 35% limit on these arrangements — a recommended limit from the Iowa Bar Association —creates consistency across Iowa and ensures patients with a legitimate claim receive appropriate compensation and limits plaintiff attorneys from aggressively recruiting cases to recoup a substantial portion of the anticipated settlement or judgment.

6. Expanding the candor clause: Allows a physician to engage their patients in frank and confidential discussions following an adverse outcome. The statute is designed to speed patients’ access to information and help to maintain the physician-patient relationship. This law is the culmination of a rare joint effort between the Iowa Medical Society and the Iowa Association for Justice (the membership organization for Iowa trial attorneys).

Tort Reform in AlabamaWe encourage you to become a member of the Madison County Medical Society and support the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. Our continuing work in tort reform in Alabama predated the Iowa work. In the 1980’s, there was a 26% increase in the high jury verdicts in medical malpractice. Through the efforts of Medical Association of the State of Alabama, tort reform laws were enacted requiring the plaintiff to show by “clear and convincing” evidence that a defendant acted with “wanton” conduct; limiting punitive damages to $250,000, noneconomic damages to $400,000, and award of damages in medical liability cases to $1million. To justify a jury trial, Alabama law abolished the scintilla of evidence rule and enacted the substantial evidence rule. There have been setbacks: the Alabama Supreme Court overturned the caps on punitive and noneconomic damages in 1991, and in 1996 overturned the wrongful death damage limits. Continued action by the Medical Association however, resulted in expert witness reforms requiring a testifying expert to practice in the defendant’s specific field of practice. Also, Alabama law requires that the venue of the trial must occur in the locale of the event. Just this 2017 legislative session, the Medical Association pushed back an $80 million tax increase on physicians to fund a new government malpractice claims payout system called the Patients Compensation System. You can read more about how your Medical Association of the State of Alabama is working on your behalf: To view the 2017 Legislative Work go to http://alabamamedicine.org/the- medical-association-is-on-call-for-you/.

Nnenna Aguocha, MDDiagnostic Radiology2006 Franklin St Ste 200256-539-0457Muhammed Aly, MD Hospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Hicham Azzouzi, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880 Anand Balachandran, MDCardiology3007 S Memorial Pkwy256-799-2509John Bowman, MDEmergency MedicineOne Hospital Dr256-429-5177 Daniel Boyett, MDBariatric Surgery4704 Whitesburg Dr Ste 200256-880-4510Jorge Diaz Castro, MDHematology/Oncology3601 CCI Drive256-705-4224Richard Desruisseau, MDDiagnostic Radiology2006 Franklin St Ste 200256-539-0457Jaime Daza Fawcett, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Ujwala Gunnal, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Ankur Jindal, MDEndocrinology201 Sivley Rd Ste 440256-265-0780Jinyue Li, MDEmergency Medicine101 Sivley Rd ER Offc256-265-9889 Lionel Marzette, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880

Srinath Nagapuri, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Vineet Nair, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Steven Parris, MDDiagnostic Radiology2006 Franklin St Ste 200256-539-0457Rinkesh Patel, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Suhas Pinnaka, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Daniel Schreeder, MD Hematology/Oncology3601 CCI Dr256-705-4224Nainesh Shah, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Suraj Shah, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Nivedita Tella, MDHospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880Gregory Thomas, MD Cardiothoracic Surgery201 Sivley Rd Ste 300256-536-5594Kapil Veeravalli, MD Hospitalist201 Sivley Rd Ste 500256-265-3880George Wilson, MDDiagnostic Radiology2006 Franklin St Ste 200256-539-0457

Medical StudentVictoria Clay

elcome

resident’sMessageP

Today, we celebrate the power of the Medical Society and the dedication of physician leaders. The Iowa Medical Society experience outlines reasonable malpractice tort reform measures that can be championed by organized physicians and demonstrates a unique collaboration between a Medical Society, Trial Attorneys, and the State Bar Association. It was a work that took nearly 13 years to implement in Iowa, but the results are staggering. W

MCMS Quarterly Newsletter

THE

SUMMER 2017

Dr. James Gilbert

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Name: Greg Bouska, MDSpecialty: Anesthesiology

Practice Name: Huntsville Hospital

Member Spotlight2

NAMRC & MCMA News4

Leadership Series5

Upcoming Events7

Congratulations!8

Executive BoardPRESIDENT: James Gilbert, MD VICE PRESIDENT: Debbie Kolb, MDSECRETARY: W. Scott Lynn, MD TREASURER: Paul Tabereaux, MD

Board of TrusteesAruna Arora, MD / Greg Bouska, MD / William Brix, MD / James Byrd, MD

Michael Conrad, MD / Deason Dunagan, MD / Sharon Gardepe, MD Akram Haggag, MD / Heather Haley, DO / Matthew Hunt, MD Heather James, MD / Dawn Mancuso, MD / Alan McCrory, MD

Libby Nord, MD / Pavan Panchavati, MD / Brad Rice, MD Sherrie Squyres, MD / Alex Talalight, MD / Tarak Vasavada, MD

Ex OfficiosPAST PRESIDENT: Amit Arora, MD

COUNTY DISASTER LIAISON: John Higginbotham, MD / Norman Sabio, MD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA FIFTH DISTRICT CENSOR: Brad Rice, MD

IM RESIDENT REP: Aadil Lodhi, MD / FP RESIDENT REP: Jennie Stanford, MD MEDICAL STUDENT REP: Jordan Keely / NAMRC DIRECTOR: Brooke Rawlins

Board of CensorsAmit Arora, MD / James Gilbert, MD / Debbie Kolb, MD / Scott Lynn, MD / Paul Tabereaux, MD

MCMS Administrative StaffEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Laura Moss / ADMIN ASSISTANT/ MEMBERSHIP: Amy McDonald

MEMBERSHIP INTERN: Macy Smith

What do you like best about your practice? What I like most about my practice is its diversity. On any given day, I’m taking care of young children, laboring women, an emergency trauma victim, routine orthopedic surgery, general surgery or possibly neurosurgery. The patients I care for within Huntsville Hospital System are usually very sick and quite complicated so my day is challenging. I like to be challenged.

I have an honest assertive personality where I am frank with the surgeons, friendly to my patients with a touch of empathy. I try to throw in a little bit of humor to break the ice for those whom are meeting their physician anesthesiologist for the first time because I’m tasked with their safety and their comfort through a difficult time. What advice would you give to someone entering the profession of medicine? For young people entering the profession of medicine, I encourage you to follow your heart and attempt to make a decision that would lead to your long-term happiness. Happiness is hard to define but for me anesthesiology simply fits my personality. I enjoy taking care of patients in a short-term manner. I’ve always loved physiology and pharmacology and I’ve always enjoyed every aspect of surgery. Be true to who you are and you can’t go wrong. Who has had the most influence on your professional career? There are many people that influenced my decision to go into medicine. Early on, it was my mother who was a neonatal nurse at Huntsville Hospital. My father has always had a great influence on my life even to this day. He is a rocket engineer and I continue to tell my patients I failed engineering so I became a doctor. But honestly, I’ve always wanted to be a doctor since early childhood. I have had a lot of help along the way. In college or medical school whenever I needed help with organic chemistry or anatomy or physiology or bio-chemistry or histology or writing a paper, someone would come along to help me grasp the difficult concepts to have a mastery at a level which allowed for competence. I wasn’t shy about asking for help so I encourage all people to do the same regardless.Tell us about yourself- anything you’d like to share…I grew up in Huntsville about a block north of Ed White Jr High in a diverse neighborhood, where our our home’s windows shook when NASA tested its rockets. I graduated from Johnson High School, went into the US Army as a Medic and ended up graduating from the University of Washington Med School in Seattle. I had a great time in the military where I met my wife and where all three of my children were born in Army Hospitals. We love Huntsville and decided to come back after 25 years.

The Madison County Medical Society has been organized to serve its mem-bers as an advocate for the physician/patient relationship, and to promote and preserve the highest standards of professional, educational, and moral conduct.

Our Mission

nside LookIMembership

Spotlight

our BoardY

The medical care you need, right here at home.As a full-service community hospital, Crestwood offers a wide range of services. It is our mission to serve by providing exceptional patient care and service for patients and their families who choose Crestwood. Thank you for your support of Crestwood.

One Hospital Drive • Huntsville256-429-4000 CrestwoodMedCenter.com

• Therapy Services• Total Hip & Knee Center• Vascular Lab• Vein Center• Women’s Center with 3D Mammography• Wound Care• 180 Private Patient Rooms

• Bariatric Surgery Center• Behavioral Health Sciences• Cardiology• Emergency Department• Gastroenterology• Maternity Center & Women’s Services• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit• Outpatient Diagnostic Imaging• Outpatient/Inpatient Surgery• Pediatrics• Robotic-Assisted Surgery• Sleep Center• Spine & Neuro Surgery

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NAMRC STAFFDIRECTOR: Brooke Rawlinswww.northalabamamrc.com

The mission of the North Alabama Medical Reserve Corps is to recruit and train medical and non-medical volunteers to supplement existing community organizations in preparing for and responding

to an emergency or disaster and to provide community education in disease awareness and prevention during non-crises times.

GO ONLINE AND SUPPORT THE NAMRC BY

VOLUNTEERING!

The Madison County Medical Alliance recently closed the books on another terrific year in supporting medical families and helping make

Madison County a healthier place. The 2016-2017 year proved to be a great one as we dispersed over $16,000 to various community health partners and deserving scholarship winners, including the New Hope Children’s Clinic, the Huntsville Hospital Mobile Medical Unit, and the

Huntsville High School Baseball team for an AED machine. In April, we awarded two graduating high school seniors with monetary awards for the MCMA-Crestwood Teen Volunteer Award. Victoria Jiminez (1st prize) and Nicholas Southern (2nd prize) impressed our scholarship committee with their outstanding academic records as well as their commitment to volun-

teer work. Similarly, we awarded two cash scholarships to outstanding graduating UAB medical students Alaina Payne and Jesse Faulk.

Planning for our annual new physician welcome event, On Call!, is well underway. Mark your calendars now for this great event that is not to be

missed: Friday, August 25th at the Ledges from 6-10pm. Please consider joining the Pager Club to support the event. Proceeds from On Call! will

benefit our various community health partners and projects. You may join the Pager Club online at: https://squareup.com/store/mcma/

Also, please note that our membership drive for the Alliance is in full swing. Membership is open to the physician and physician’s spouse. We

even have a couple’s rate of $120! We encourage you to become a member and join us in furthering our mission through the coming year.

Join us here: https://squareup.com/store/mcma

Looking forward to working with the Society on another great year of serving Huntsville-Madison County!

Christina TabereauxMCMA 2017-2018

President

Thurs., July 20 6-7pm

10th Annual Women’s Wellness EventThe NAMRC hosted its

May 18th

Email Brooke atdirector@

northalabamamrc.comto register

VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION

3330 L&N DrHSV 35801(BELLCHASE

OFF. CTR)

Please join me in welcoming and thanking our newly inducted board for 2017-2018 : (L to R, Top to Bottom)

Immediate Past-President: Stephanie McCarthy Member-at-Large: Emily Bains / Parliamentarian: Kelly Butler

Assistant Treasurer: Emily Bourgeois / Treasurer: Melinda HoldenRecording Secretary: Kelly Davenport / Historian: Kara Saini

President: Christina TabereauxCorresponding Secretary: Teresa Chambers

Connect on Facebook

NORTHALABAMA

medicalreservecorps

5

SERIES

Niko CorleyDirector Legislative and Public AffairsMedical Association of the State of Alabama

Jennifer Fogarty, PhDNASA Human Research Program (HRP)

Deputy Chief Scientist

Kenny AndersonMulticultural Affairs OfficerOffice of the Mayor City of Huntsville and Dr. James Gilbert, MCMS President

Throughout 2017, the MCMS Board of Trustees under the direction of President James Gilbert, has focused on

leadership development. The board has had the opportunity to interact with leadership from the FBI, NASA, Huntsville’s Mayor Office, Crestwood Medical Center, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. Each speaker has shared a unique perspective and collectively have enriched our board and enhanced their ability

to take on day to day leadership challenges.

Left to right: Drs. Sherrie Squyres, Greg Bouska, James Gilbert, Libby Nord, Aruna Arora,

John Higginbotham, Dawn Mancuso, Deason Dunagan and Debbie Kolb.

Pam Hudson, MDChief Executive Officer Crestwood Medical Center

Roger Stanton Special Agentin charge of the FBI’s Birmingham division

Thanks for serving your colleagues through the Medical Association of the State of Alabama:

Aruna Arora, MD - Secretary/TreasurerDebbie Kolb, MD - Council on Medical Services

Patrick O’Neill, MD - Nominating CommitteeBrad Rice, MD - Board of Censors

Bill Schneider, MD - AMA Alternate DelegateSherrie Squyres, MD - Membership AdHoc Committee

Improving lives.

The employees at Huntsville Hospital, together with our physician partners earned U.S. News & World Report’s No. 2 spot in Alabama for Overall Excellence.

And, along with the excellence ranking, Huntsville Hospital earned U.S. News & World Report magazine’s “High Performing” label in these important areas:

Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair Heart Bypass surgery Heart failure Hip replacement

FRIDGE WORTHY.

(256) 265-1000 | huntsvillehospital.org

As report cards go, we are proud of this one.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)Colon cancer surgeryKnee replacement

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UpcomingEventsAnnual Sponsors!

www.madisoncountydoctors.org

TuesdayJULY 18th

11:30-1The Ledges

Sponsored by

T hanks 2017

PROGRESS BANK ANNOUNCES NEW HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT

BEGINNING AUGUST 2017HSA's are a terrific TAX EXEMPT

way to pay for out of pocket medical expenses not covered by a High Deductible

Health Plan (HDHP). In fact, HSA's have a TRIPLE TAX ADVANTAGE

since yearly contributions are made on a PRE-TAX BASIS, the earnings on the funds

in the account are TAX EXEMPT and any qualifying medical expense distributions are

also TAX EXEMPT.In addition, unlike a Flex or Cafeteria Plan,

the funds do not have to be used in the same year, so your money can grow over time.

Also, HSA's are portable, meaning you can have your account where you want it, since

it is not tied to any specific workplace or financial institution.

Of course, with any plan that offers tax advantages there are certain conditions that

must be met. Please consult your tax advi-sor to determine if this account will meet

your specific needs.Please contact Mary Hartley,

Progress Bank Private Banking 256-319-3619

or Clint Kirkland, Progress Bank Healthcare/Professional Division, at 256-319-3611 to discuss

the advantages of this account in detail.

SAVE THE DATE! 2017

ANNUALMEMBERSHIP

MEETING12.5.17

8

Madison County Medical Society3330 L&N Drive, Suite IHuntsville, AL 35801

REGISTER @ www.madisoncountydoctors/events

DRS. LIBBY NORD, PAUL TABEREAUX AND

TARAK VASAVADA

Recipient of the Carl A. Grote, Jr., MD

Award forOUTSTANDING

PHSYICIAN ADVOCATE

Recipient of the New Hope

Children’s ClinicHERO AWARD

ElectedREGIONAL DIRECTOR for SE Central Regional American Association of

Physicians of Indian Origin

We love to recognize our member’s accomplishments.

Please submit info to Executive Director at

mcmslaura@gmail.com