Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Discussion in 'Political Opinions & Beliefs' started by Ethereal, Aug 28, 2011.

  1. Ethereal

    Ethereal Well-Known Member

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    I'm watching "Untold Stories of the ER" on TLC and there was one case that I thought was particularly relevant to healthcare policy in general.

    A woman came in with an ectopic pregnancy, which is an abnormal pregnancy that occurs outside of the womb (the uterus). Essentially, the embryo failed to implant properly and burst one of her arteries as a result - the woman was unconscious and slowly bleeding to death. The ER physician lacked the expertise necessary to resolve the problem so he and his team tried to locate an OB/GYN surgeon, which is a surgeon who specializes in pregnancy and vaginal-related medicine. The only problem was that they couldn't find any practicing OB/GYNs within the area. The reason for this is because so many OB/GYNs had been leaving the specialty because of excessive malpractice insurance costs and liability issues. They were able to find a surgeon who used to be an OB/GYN, but he was reluctant to do the surgery for fear of getting sued. Ultimately, he did the surgery and saved the woman's life.

    The policy implications of this are obvious: Excessive medical malpractice lawsuits are serving to push physicians out of high-risk specialties, which decreases the amount of care available to patients who are in need of such specialists. I went looking for evidence to support this theory and found several studies which confirmed this trend in medicine. Here is the abstract from one such study:

    As someone who hopes to become a medical doctor someday, it really irks me that these high-risk specialists (which I do NOT plan on becoming) have to worry more about getting sued than they do about saving a patient's life. The only people this arrangement seems to benefit are the trial lawyers that make millions at the expense of physicians and patients alike. Now, that's not to say all malpractice lawsuits are frivolous, but something tells me that the system is rigged against the physicians. And even when a case is dismissed, or when the plaintiff loses the case, there can still be significant legal fees and anxiety associated with being dragged into court.

    So, what is the solution? I think tort reform is the obvious way to help solve this problem. The tort reform in Texas has resulted in thousands of physicians moving there.

    The response to these arguments is that bad doctors will get away with incompetence that results in permanent damage and even death if tort reform is allowed to pass, but I haven't seen any evidence that this would be the case. What's more, it doesn't really make any difference when the lack of specialists could result in permanent damage and even death, too.

    Our options: More doctors...or more lawyers. You choose.
     
  2. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    South Carolina's medical malpractice insurance is a fraction of other states.. and they should be adopting the SC model.

    Medical malpractice is largely a function of doctor hopping.. lack of continuity of care.
     
  3. Ethereal

    Ethereal Well-Known Member

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    Could you elaborate on this?
     
  4. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    SC's insurance is a fraction of any other state.. Its an umbrella and they investigate the physician.

    I think you can look it up on line and read it.. I fear I would muddy the details for you.

    http://www.mcandl.com/southcarolina.html
     
  5. Ethereal

    Ethereal Well-Known Member

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    As far as I can tell, the tort reform in S. Carolina is pretty similar to the tort reform in Texas. Caps on awards and penalties for filing frivolous lawsuits.
     
  6. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    The premiums are a third of what they are elsewhere.
     
  7. Panzerkampfwagen

    Panzerkampfwagen New Member

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    Doctors are human, they're gonna make mistakes and a mistake isn't always a stupid one and that's not even counting doctors who are pulling 30 hours shifts because there's no one else available and then they go and do a 10 hour operation. Mistakes are going to be made and in that case it's not the doctor's fault.

    There needs to be a divide between, yeah, it's sad that the doctor couldn't work out in time what your problem was, or couldn't completely heal you, etc and the doctor was an idiot and did something totally idiotic.
     
  8. PatrickT

    PatrickT Well-Known Member

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    Medical malpractice is much less of a problem than medical malpractice lawsuits. Senator Edwards, Democrat vice-presidential candidate, made over $29 million on clearly bogus lawsuits.
     
  9. waltky

    waltky Well-Known Member

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    Medical errors become 3rd leading cause of death...
    :omg:
    Study: Medical Errors Third Leading Cause of Death in US
    May 04, 2016 - Medical errors now are the third leading cause of death in the United States, according to a new study.
     
  10. tharock220

    tharock220 Well-Known Member

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    Texas has a loser pay system. So frivelous lawsuits may end up costing the plaintiff. Punitive damages are also capped at $500,000. The rest are economic, and every penny claimed must be justified.
     

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