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A new issue brief from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) examines governors' economic development initiatives launched over the last year, which continued to focus on creating quality jobs and boosting the economic competitiveness of their states.
The National Conference on State Legislatures offers a listing of all legislation in 2006 dealing with medical malpractice reform. Issues this year include a focus on accountability, requiring reports from medical liability insurance providers and state controls of insurance premium rates.
The Health Minister of Manitoba has proposed amendments to the Medical Act, including providing liability protection to physicians reporting incompetent or unethical practice by a colleague and allowing disciplinary action to be taken against a physician who has been disciplined in another jurisdiction.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will begin stricter examination of the business practices of mortgage companies. Regulation of the firms began in 2003, and the department intends to crack down to ensure that sensitive financial information be handled by honest licensed professionals and that they are disciplined for offenses.
Two opposing bills concerning the death penalty are currently before the California legislature. One bill would protect doctors from disciplinary action if they participate in executions, claiming that the death penalty should not be considered a medical procedure and the Medical Board should not have jurisdiction. The other bill would block doctors from taking part in executions in an official capacity, claiming that to do so violates the profession's code of ethics.
The President of the Caribbean Association of Professional Trichologists Inc. urges stronger cosmetology regulation in Barbados and the wider Caribbean. Currently, a hairdresser license and yearly renewal is required, but there is no oversight board to handle complaints or discipline.
As the use of complementary therapies and integrated medicine is increasing in Ireland, the Department of Health has released a report urging for more public information, clarification of the levels of practice for different therapies, and standardization of the level of education for therapists. The report recommends the formation of associations of the various practitioners to allow for more accountability.
The Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council has recommended that the regulation of Naturopathic Doctors be moved under the Regulated Health Practitioners' Act. A recent public opinion poll suggests that 40% of Ontarians are likely to see a Naturopathic Doctor in the next few years and 80% feel that it is very important to allow only licensed Naturopathic Doctors to call themselves Naturopathic Doctors.
A bill to regulate lawyers' advertisements has passed in the Louisiana Senate and is now before the House. The bill would create the Standing Committee on Attorney Advertising to approve or reject all lawyer ads. Those supporting the bill hope that it will help crack down on misleading ads that are "offensive to lawyers and to the public." Others claim that it goes against First Amendment rights and the Louisiana constitution.
The Minnesota Chapter of the Institute for Justice has recently filed suit on behalf of two sign hangers, claiming that the licensing requirements are arbitrary. The Institute has filed cases for occupations such as manicurists, florists, and African hair braiders. The Institute's report demonstrates that Minnesota is the 13th most regulated state and questions whether much of this regulation is excessive and at the expense of the consumers which it is supposed to protect.
