Summary: Back from a short hiatus we greet Michelle M. Mello, Professor of Law and of Health Research & Policy at Stanford University. She is the author of more than 150 articles and book chapters on the medical malpractice system, medical errors and patient safety, research ethics, regulation of pharmaceuticals, legal interventions to combat obesity and noncommunicable disease, and other topics. Our conversation focused on her recent work on medical apologies, communication-and-resolution programs, overlapping surgery (which refers to operations performed by the same primary surgeon such that the start of one surgery overlaps with the end of another), reconciliation after medical injury, and the influence of the malpractice environment on care patterns. The lightning round featured a tour of the many facets of synthetic ACA repeal: CHIP delay, health budget slashing, zombie reconciliation, marketing budget cuts, inexplicable "maintenance" efforts that bring down HealthCare.gov for 12 hours a day at peak sign up periods, the Trump EO on association health plans, and the suspension of CSR payments. As Nancy LeTourneau reports, “synthetic repeal won’t be scored by CBO and has tossed aside any attempt to replace the law. That means that the results could be even more disastrous for the American people.”
