Medical Society of County of Kings, est. 1822

08/26/2025

https://restofworld.org/2025/india-e-waste-recycling-electronics/?utm_source=Rest+of+World+Newsletter&utm_campaign=41366f4f46-row-newsletters-global_2025-08-26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-41366f4f46-446232966

THINK about that all the e-warriors out there - e-vehicles etc. this is not green for everybody else.

The informal recycling economy is turning global e-waste into profit — at a steep human and environmental cost.

06/20/2025

MSCK Annual Stated Meeting. Thank you Dr. Ronald Solomon for a wonderful year and we look forward to Dr. Devendra Shrivastava

03/27/2025

Medical Society of the County of Kings (MSCK) and Richmond County Medical Society (RCMS) celebrated Doctors Day together at Dyker Beach Golf Course. Congratulations to all the honorees

03/12/2024

MSCK and MSSNY here representing physicians and patients, protecting choice and fighting for access and fairness in the system and business of medicine.

12/29/2023

Dear Colleagues:

URGENT ACTION NEEDED - the “Grieving Families Act” Bill (AB.6698/SB.6636), which would dramatically increase New York medical liability costs, LANDED ON THE GOVERNOR’S DESK TODAY. Its acceptance threatens to inflict severe damage on New York's healthcare system, including an increase in liability premiums by 40%.

Failure to act swiftly will undoubtedly result in a catastrophic surge in medical liability costs, directly impacting the foundation of our already vulnerable healthcare infrastructure.

We implore you to join us in the fight against this looming threat. Take the following urgent actions:
• Call the Governor’s office at 518-474-8390. Then press option 1 to leave a voicemail or option 2 to speak with a member of the governor’s staff: “I am Dr. ___ ___ urgently requesting the Governor to Veto the Grieving Families Act.”
• Go to https://p2a.co/kU6zLC0 and send a message urging the Governor to veto the bill. Every message counts!
We are all in this together. Let’s do our part to encourage the Governor to veto this bill—not only for our physician colleagues but for the health and safety of all New Yorkers.

Our collective strength is our greatest asset, and we cannot afford to let this opportunity slip away. Act now to protect not only our fellow physicians' interests but also all New Yorkers' well-being and safety.

In solidarity for a healthier future,

Paul A. Pipia, MD
President

Parag Mehta, MD
Immediate Past President

Join in asking to VETO A.6698/S.6636, which would expand damages awardable in wrongful death actions and dramatically increase liability insurance premiums

06/16/2023

As you most likely know, the NYS Legislature concluded the 2023 session late last week. The good news is that many health insurance reform bills advocated for by MSSNY this Legislative Session (together with patient advocacy group allies) passed both the Senate and Assembly. MSSNY will be urging Governor Hochul to sign these bills into law. These include:

A463-A (McDonald)/S.2677-A (Breslin) requires health insurers to provide more detailed information and appeal rights to patients and their physicians when a request to override a health insurer’s step therapy protocol has been denied.
A1673-A (Hunter)/S.1196-A (Persaud) requires health insurers to cover biomarker testing for diagnosis, treatment, or appropriate management, of a patient’s disease or condition when the test is supported by medical and scientific evidence.
These reforms supplement other important patient protection reforms supported by MSSNY included in the recently enacted State Budget. One of these provisions will ensure that, starting in 2024, an appeal of a denied claim by a health insurer must be reviewed by a physician in the same or similar specialty as the physician recommending or providing the care. The other provision requires the creation of a Health Insurance “Guarantee Fund” to pay claims in the event of a health insurance insolvency, such as we saw in 2015 with Health Republic.

More good news: the Legislative Session concluded without acting on numerous bills that would have endangered patient care by removing important oversight and/or collaboration provided by a physician. These bills were opposed by MSSNY working together with numerous impacted specialty societies. Some of these bills opposed by MSSNY and the specialty societies included:

A.6958-A/S.769-A, which would allow Nurse Anesthetists to administer anesthesia without physician oversight.
A.5012/S.5520 which would allow Physician Assistants (PAs) to practice independently without physician oversight after 3,600 hours of practice.
S.66-A/A.1262-A which would grant prescribing rights to psychologists similar to psychiatrists.
S.6800/A.6445 which would make permanent provisions that permit nurse practitioners to practice without physician collaboration after 3,600 hours and enables those 3,600 hours to be obtained by working for a NP, not a physician.
A.2217-A/S.2254-A which would significantly expand the scope of services of a podiatrist to treat conditions of the ankle and leg.
The bad news is that the slightly revised wrongful death expansion bill (A.6698/S.6636) did pass the Legislature. Physicians will again need to contact Governor Hochul to urge the governor to veto this bill.

This legislation would exponentially increase awards in wrongful death lawsuits without taking any steps to address our already staggering liability costs. The continued expansion of wrongful death awards to include the new category of non-economic damages has led multiple actuarial studies to conclude that, if passed, it would increase liability insurance costs by a staggering 40%-45%. Indeed, the New York State Division of Budget has estimated that it would add nearly $700 million in new costs to the state’s hospitals, including nearly $200 million for the state’s distressed safety net providers that care for underserved communities. The adverse impact that this increase in cost would have on patient access to our health care system was a major reason why this legislation was vetoed by the Governor in January.

Again, please contact Governor Hochul to urge her that any legislation to update New York’s wrongful death law be balanced to also address the extraordinary medical liability costs in our state. Moreover, to assist in our advocacy, please let us know if you have a story to share regarding what the legislation could mean for patient access to care in your community.

Paul A. Pipia, MD

MSSNY President

06/01/2023

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S6636

Read this page carefully - look at the people who have supported. PRESSURE TIME. IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN-SIGAL, ADDABBO, BAILEY, BRIS-
PORT, BROUK, CLEARE, COMRIE, COONEY, GALLIVAN, GIANARIS, GOUNARDES,
GRIFFO, HARCKHAM, HELMING, HINCHEY, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, KENNEDY, KRUEG-
ER, LANZA, LIU, MANNION, MATTERA, MAY, MAYER, MYRIE, ORTT, PALUMBO,
PARKER, PERSAUD, RAMOS, RIVERA, RYAN, SALAZAR, SANDERS, SEPULVEDA,
SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, TEDISCO, THOMAS -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judici-
ary

IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. WEINSTEIN, PEOPLES-STOKES, DINOW-
ITZ, ZEBROWSKI, LAVINE, GLICK, L. ROSENTHAL, AUBRY, PAULIN, COLTON,
HYNDMAN, WEPRIN, JOYNER, SANTABARBARA, TAYLOR, CARROLL, SAYEGH, JACOB-
SON, BURKE, STECK, SIMON, DILAN, FALL, JEAN-PIERRE, DICKENS, DARLING,
SOLAGES, WALLACE, CRUZ, COOK, RAJKUMAR, BENEDETTO, BURGOS, STERN,
MITAYNES, LUNSFORD, HUNTER, SILLITTI, HEVESI, MAMDANI, STIRPE, GIBBS,
McMAHON, EPSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, BURDICK, MAGNARELLI, KIM, MEEKS, ANDER-
SON, TAPIA -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN, BRAUN-
STEIN, CLARK, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, LUPARDO, RIVERA, WILLIAMS -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Judiciary

Provides for the types of damages that may be awarded to the persons for whose benefit an action for wrongful death is brought.

05/30/2023

In Today's Crain's HealthPulse
https://www.crainsnewyork.com/health-pulse/qa-columbias-public-health-school-dean-investing-prevention-not-medicine ?utm_source=morning-10-tuesday&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20230530&utm_content=content-link-3

Notable Health Care Leaders:

Parag Mehta, President, Medical Society of the State of New York
Parag Mehta is the first president of Asian descent to govern the Medical Society of the State of New York. In addition, Mehta is the chief medical information officer at NewYork Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Committed to patient care and quality, he has marshaled a collaborative team approach to care, working with physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other health care professionals to provide the best care for patients. He has worked with elected officials on collective bargaining and on the veto of the Grieving Families Bill. Mehta is the past president and past chair of the board of trustees for the Medical Society of the County of Kings.

Plus: Montefiore pulls in nearly 2% operating margin for Q1 Hackensack Meridian Health and St. Joseph's Health invest $35M in new cancer hub Meet 5 more of this year's Notable Health Care Leaders

05/17/2023

Representative from Assemblymember Lester Change's office....

10/23/2022

Michael Tannousis, Dr. Ram Raju...

10/23/2022

Richmond County Medical Society Legislative brunch