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Perhaps the answer is that the medical and insurance industries should change their ways of dealing with medical errors.
Doctors learn to apologize for mistakes | WWLP.COM (http://www.wivb.com/dpp/health/healthy_living/wwlp_ap_healthyliving_doctorslearntoapologixeformi stakes_200907202020_2662611 - broken link)
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When a treatment goes wrong at a U.S. hospital, fear of a lawsuit usually means "never daring to say you're sorry."
That's not the way it works at the University of Michigan Health System, where lawyers and doctors say admitting mistakes up front and offering compensation before being sued have brought about remarkable savings in money, time and feelings.
So true, but the party of lawyers is in control now.
Law schools should have a moratorium on enrollment, there are far too many of these know-it-all parasites roaming the streets like dogs and they are out flipping over rocks looking for money with frivolous lawsuits.
So true, but the party of lawyers is in control now.
Law schools should have a moratorium on enrollment, there are far too many of these know-it-all parasites roaming the streets like dogs and they are out flipping over rocks looking for money with frivolous lawsuits.
Are you suggesting that the problem is the lawyers and not that people are injured and killed by medical errors and malpractice?
Do you think that people who are injured or the survivors of those killed should not receive compensation?
Do you believe that people who will have lifelong problems because of medical errors or malpractice should absorb the costs for their care (and support, if they can no longer work) by themselves?
Do you believe that all medical malpractice lawsuits are frivolous but are allowed to go forward anyway?
Do you believe that juries award too much money to people who have been injured?
This seems like a very unique thread to me because it hits on probably the most important aspect of healthcare reform, but for some reason nobody is talking about it.
Tort reform must be done for several reasons. Everybody complains about the greed of insurance companies in buying health insurance .... Well, you also have to consider that physicians must buy malpractice insurance and pass that operating expense along to the patients. Do you believe these insurance companies are any nicer to them? No. Insurance companies are greedy and it doesn't matter if it's health, malpractice, car, or homeowners insurance.
The high cost of malpractice insurance eliminates the ability of many physicians to leave the large, corporate hospital and start their own business. Basically, it eliminates competition in the medical field that could drive prices down.
Say you have a physician, his malpractice insurance premiums probably runs an average of $25,000 depending on the specialty, up to $100,000 for OBGYN. Then he has probably $200,000-250,000 in student loans payed back over 15 years (based on my physician's amount who graduated several years ago).
Beyond that, how many billions of dollars are spent on medical tests that have no use to the patient, but the doctor is just covering his bases to prevent a malpractice lawsuit? I want my doctor to be careful, and thorough, but there no sense in running 3 imaging tests and 4 sets of labs to make sure there wasn't an error the first 2 times which might happen 0.5% of the time. There's another factor driving up health insurance costs. In Europe, Canada, and other countries, a physician must have a valid reason to run a test.
Of course healthcare is going to be expensive when you have these high overhead costs that physicians must charge their patients. It doesn't matter if insurance companies pay the bill, the individual, or the government.
Malpractice is truly a tragedy and I'm sure every physician makes a mistake now and then. And I'm sure there are physicians that probably make too many mistake. But it's time to face the fact that we all suffer, and we all pay for all these malpractice lawsuits. Another point is that malpractice lawsuits are judged in a court of law by people who know nothing about medicine and the standard is more likely than not. It's time for Tort reform that allows victims to be compensated reasonably, but not allow obscene amounts of compensation that is undermining the ability of millions of Americans to get healthcare coverage by greatly raising the cost of medical care.
Are you suggesting that the problem is the lawyers and not that people are injured and killed by medical errors and malpractice?
Do you think that people who are injured or the survivors of those killed should not receive compensation?
Do you believe that people who will have lifelong problems because of medical errors or malpractice should absorb the costs for their care (and support, if they can no longer work) by themselves?
Do you believe that all medical malpractice lawsuits are frivolous but are allowed to go forward anyway?
Do you believe that juries award too much money to people who have been injured?
People who are truely injured deserve compensation.
1. Litigation increases health care costs by $200 billion per year by physicians over ordering tests to cover themselves. Only the trial lawyers disagree with this, as the parasite dies if the host dies. Ironically, this amount would pay for the uninsured.
2. Dirct costs of litigation (malpractice, judgements) are a small cost.
Who do you want to help- the uninsured or the trial lawyer's association? Since the trial lawyer's association has purchased the democratic party, there will be no tort reform. Hell with the uninsured- help the lawyers.
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