The bill for these awards, including the lawyers' take, is paid by all patients.
The solution is to have the costs of malpractice paid for solely by patients who want such legal protection. My wife and I should be able to sign a firm notarized promise to forgive our doctors for any mistakes they make with ourselves or our children. Malpractice insurers should be forced to base rates on the proportion of a doctor's patients who have signed such waivers, and health insurers should be required to charge separate rates for waiver and non-waiver patients.
If offered the option of (1) affordable health care but no option to sue or (2) the present system, I'd pick option #1 in a second.
Most people would.
The lawyers know this. It's their racket. By the time they get through scaring the wits out of people, they're ready to submit to anything. Lawyers are trained and skilled in the art of persuasion.
The same options should be available not just where health care is concerned but across the board. Such waivers should be legal and binding.
I could not agree with you more. That's exactly what we need.
For some reason, large numbers of people love living under the dark cloud of litigation constantly. It's like the clouds of the Inquisition in El Greco's View of Toledo. They complain about it. They live in fear of it. But, when the lawyers get cranked up with their scare tactics, wisdom vanishes--which, of course, is the object of the tactics.
You really see this in California. Mention "litigation" or "law suit" and watch the person's pupils. They're terrified but they have no idea how to get past this Gordian Knot.
But anywhere in the United States, whether you're talking about the workplace, a boat trip, whatever--mention "law suit" and people show signs of fear. They should.
I doubt that would go through; sounds to close to signing away rights. There was some talk a while ago, though, regarding car insurance -- a proposal that drivers who agreed in advance to settle for actual economic damages could get lower rates. Your idea might be more workable along those lines -- agree to seek only actual economic compensation, i.e., lost wages, costs of corrective treatment, and maybe funeral expenses, and agree to forgo pain and suffering awards, punitive damages or double or treble damages where applicable.