Posted on 05/10/2006 2:49:01 PM PDT by SmithL
About 40 percent of the medical malpractice cases filed in the United States are groundless, according to a Harvard analysis of the hotly debated issue that pits trial lawyers against doctors, with lawmakers in the middle.
Many of the lawsuits analyzed contained no evidence that a medical error was committed or that the patient suffered any injury, the researchers reported.
The vast majority of those dubious cases were dismissed with no payout to the patient. However, groundless lawsuits still accounted for 15 percent of the money paid out in settlements or verdicts.
The study's lead researcher, David Studdert of the Harvard School of Public Health, said the findings challenge the view among tort reform supporters that the legal system is riddled with frivolous claims that lead to exorbitant payouts.
"We found the system did reasonably well in sorting the good claims from the bad ones, but there were problems," he said.
However, the American Medical Association, which favors caps on malpractice awards, called the study proof that a substantial number of meritless claims continue to slip through the cracks, "clogging the courts" and forcing doctors to waste time defending them, association board member Dr. Cecil Wilson said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
OK, 40% groundless and they claim this is a good system?
In addition, the vast majority of malpractice goes without compensation.
Lawyers have a better rate: nine in ten malpractice cases are groundless. Just ask any lawyer.
Lawyers will only take the ones which promise huge awards, so any study is flawed.
The reason so much "malpractice" goes uncompensated is that there is no such thing as an accident, all doctors are perfect at all times, patients are never to blame for stupid actions or decisions, and lawyers are all selfless experts who can judge everything in hindsight perfectly.
Only four?
I took zyprexa which was ineffective for my condition and gave me diabetes.
Zyprexa, which is used for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, accounted for 32% of Eli Lilly's $14.6 billion revenue last year.
Zyprexa is the product name for Olanzapine,it is Lilly's top selling drug.It was approved by the FDA in 1996 ,an 'atypical' antipsychotic a newer class of drugs without the motor side effects of the older Thorazine.Zyprexa has been linked to causing diabetes and pancreatitis.
Did you know that Lilly made nearly $3 billion last year on diabetic meds, Actos,Humulin and Byetta?
Yes! They sell a drug that can cause diabetes and then turn a profit on the drugs that treat the condition that they may have caused in the first place!
I was prescribed Zyprexa from 1996 until 2000.
In early 2000 i was shocked to have an A1C test result of 13.9 (normal is 4-6) I have no history of diabetes in my family.
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Daniel Haszard http://www.zyprexa-victims.com
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