Posted on 09/17/2009 9:57:44 AM PDT by Nachum
This is quite the naive statement. Lawyers will sue wherever there is money. Doctors could avoid being sued if... if they took a 90% pay cut..
That's very interesting that in the UK, of which the liberals all want us to emulate when it comes to healthcare, they have addressed tort reform. Oh, but this is not the part of the UK the libs want us to follow.
Libs - the pick & choose party.
Paying Trial Lawyers tens of millions of dollars to go away and not file their suits is probably the only alternative that could pass the House...
Maybe the doctors should get of their "high horse" and just shut their practice doors.
Compensating a victim of medical malpractice, it’s almost inpossible to know how much compensation $$$ should be awarded without determining the facts of the case. So as along as tort reform doesn’t mess with that, and only punitive, I’d be okay with that. What does irritate me is the lack of disciplinary measures toward doctors who are consistantly negligent. Punitive damages are awarded by the court as a punishment because the court knows nothing (or it would be rare) will happen to the doc for being negligible. The old saying that a “mechanic has to fix their mistakes and a doctor buries them” is true. If a cap would be limited to $500,000, is that punishment enough? How about $500,000 and probation of license to practice?
Dear Commander Zero,
Texas already did the experiment.
It worked.
Next excuse?
Well, that sure is tort reform, not.’
Exactly !!
Talk about ‘how many ways can NObama waste tax money” topics !
Put a cap on ALL malpractice awards.
Put into place laws that say IF you sue a doctor or hospital, etc, and lose- you must pay all the other persons court costs- every single dime.
All those kids who have ‘learning problems’ or aren’t just perfect?
How about some serious studies of how much drugs played a part in those problems—even a generation back.
People want to use drugs as early as 10 years old, and then when they become ‘parents’ and their kids have problems, they never want to admit that perhaps they ingested or smoked something that caused a tear in the DNA.
Maybe the doctors should get of their “high horse” and just shut their practice doors.”
I predict that exact result when NObama has shoved his ‘health care bill’ down our throats.
What is clear to me is, the "self-policing" of not only doctors, but lawyers and police is totally ineffective. Any real reform which does not include to removal of these "good ol boy" self-policing monstrousities, which have been clearly demonstrated to be futile, is a non-starter...
the infowarrior
Actually, if doctors would come off their high horse and admit that they do make mistakes, a lot of lawsuits could be avoided.
This is quite the naive statement. Lawyers will sue wherever there is money. Doctors could avoid being sued if... if they took a 90% pay cut..”
Actually, it is the insurance companies that pay off the lawsuits.
Every doctor MUST have malpractice insurance.
Those premiums get passed on to you and me in every office visit.
In 1988, my OB/GYN annual visit went from $35 to $65 totally due to his premium going from $14,000 per year to $125,000 in one jump. Doc had been practicing for over 33 years, and had one lawsuit against him, ehich he won.
That $111,000 extra in premiums was passed on to each and every patient visit.
Doctors are not all making millions of dollars.
They leave school and start a practice with a debt load that you would not even consider having yourself if it cost that much to be a welder or a carpenter or some such.
Self-policing~excellent. You hit the nail on the head. That’s the key problem and why the courts allow for punitive damages.. Uhoh, we’ll have a doctor czar next.
2. Disagree, Would rather see a standard screening process to prevent frivilous suits. “If not for “negligant actions”, patient wouldn’t have “died”, or been “permanently harmed/damaged/disabled/limited”.. Temporary damage, could be a different classification. Regardless, loser pays is bad because sometimes guilty doctors win their cases for a variety of reasons. Poor atty skills on behalf of plaintiff etc..
3. Good idea!
4. Our current legal aid isn’t that hot. I don’t trust the idea/concept.
5. Class actions are costly..not sure. Docs should pay their costs, and I agree with the rest.
6 interesting!
7 no way jose! That’s like having a person settle with an insurance company after a carwreck that resulted in serious damages. They have self-interest at heart.
speaking of naive, you do realize that there has to be a plaintiff for their to be a lawsuit, right? It seems that some people think that a lawyer can just award a verdict himself, without any basis in law, findings by a jury, etc... It really is rather comical.
Which ought to demonstrate that the malpractice insurance industry has created a phantom bogeyman in the malpractice lawsuit. It justifies their rediculous premiums, while shifting the blame to lawyers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.