As part of the general national debate over medical negligence, there is movement in many states to toughen up disciplinary action against doctors, as by mandating that existing disciplinary boards conduct automatic investigations of doctors accused of certain kinds of misconduct. Might such measures afford new leverage to malpractice lawyers suing those doctors? Well, yes, they might, according to three attorneys discussing a new Pennsylvania law:

Because even a single act of negligence can now trigger an investigation of a board and the commencement of a disciplinary proceeding, astute malpractice defense counsel anticipate that initial malpractice complaints will be drafted with "triggering" events prominently alleged.