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More Doctors in Texas After Malpractice Caps
NYT ^

Posted on 10/04/2007 7:59:44 PM PDT by milestogo

More Doctors in Texas After Malpractice Caps

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

HOUSTON, Oct. 4 — In Texas, it can be a long wait for a doctor: up to six months.

That is not for an appointment. That is the time it can take the Texas Medical Board to process applications to practice.

Four years after Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors are responding as supporters predicted, arriving from all parts of the country to swell the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring professional health care to some long-underserved rural areas.

The influx, raising the state’s abysmally low ranking in physicians per capita, has flooded the medical board’s offices in Austin with applications for licenses, close to 2,500 at last count.

Of those awaiting processing, the largest number, after Texas, come from New York (145), followed by California (118) and Florida (100).

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: agenda21; health; healthcare; healthypeople2010; medicine; tortreform
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1 posted on 10/04/2007 7:59:47 PM PDT by milestogo
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To: milestogo

If it’s in the NYT, I guess it’s not to be believed.


2 posted on 10/04/2007 8:14:09 PM PDT by DemEater
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To: milestogo

Last semester I took a Polisci class and our moonbat professor showed us a PBS film called “Justice for Sell”. Basically it was a hit piece on Texas because the Doctors in Texas joined together and took the Texas courts away from the trial lawyers. It was pretty funny watching her try to convince us how evil doctors were for doing it. She would have had better luck trying to convince the walls then those of us taking the class that appointing judges was better than electing them.


3 posted on 10/04/2007 8:20:29 PM PDT by txroadkill ( http://iraqstar.org)
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To: milestogo

More doctors may not mean higher quality of care, but lack of doctors does hurt quality of care.
I’m glad the numbers are proving Prop 12 was the right idea.


4 posted on 10/04/2007 8:21:56 PM PDT by tbw2 (Science fiction with real science - "Humanity's Edge" by Tamara Wilhite)
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To: txroadkill

Yup. It makes them answerable to the people - something sorely lacking elsewhere.

What happens to judges if they: Get soft on criminals? Give murderers probation only? Abuse their position? “Creatively” interpret the law? Guess what - come next election, you’re fired!


5 posted on 10/04/2007 8:29:50 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr

Another reason to love Texas.


6 posted on 10/04/2007 8:31:31 PM PDT by tbw2 (Science fiction with real science - "Humanity's Edge" by Tamara Wilhite)
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To: milestogo
The important thing to keep in mind is that the only kind of damages that were limited were non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. Actual damages including loss of income is still recoverable. So those stories in the NY Times about people being impoverished should be taken with a grain of salt.

What we need to do next is put a stop to class action suits. They are just a means to circumvent the standing requirement.

7 posted on 10/04/2007 8:33:39 PM PDT by antinomian
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To: tbw2

Appointed Judges (except at the very highest levels of the judiciary, and even then it’s just barely tolerable) = “The Divine Right Of Kings” or “We, the elite, know better than you, the serfs, what is good for you.”

Elected Judges = accountable public servants, listening to the voice of the People - their master.


8 posted on 10/04/2007 8:34:44 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: tbw2

More doctors may mean better care...You can choose not to go to them...


9 posted on 10/04/2007 8:36:19 PM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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To: tbw2

This has been great for Texas and for the country. Some of the best and most advanced medicine is coming out of Texas now. The stuff that Baylor is doing with the deep brain stimulators is incredible.


10 posted on 10/04/2007 8:37:14 PM PDT by txroadkill ( http://iraqstar.org)
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To: antinomian

I’m not so sure about that. Class action suits certainly need to be better regulated and more strictly certified; I do not think they need to be eliminated.


11 posted on 10/04/2007 8:37:51 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: txroadkill

And Rice’s non-pharmaceutical cure for cancer is just amazing. Hopefully it passes the clinical trials.


12 posted on 10/04/2007 8:38:40 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr

If someone has a case then let them file it. Class action is the way tort lawyers get cases into court without actually having any real clients.


13 posted on 10/04/2007 8:48:54 PM PDT by antinomian
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To: All

This is why I’m moving to Texas.


14 posted on 10/04/2007 9:14:55 PM PDT by Ravi
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To: Spktyr
You can get rid of judges that go off the rails if you have judicial retention elections. That's how we do it in Arizona. The appointment is made by the Governor, and then every four years they have to win a majority in an unopposed retention election. Most of the time it is just a formality, but every now and then a bad apple gets the boot.

It sure beats allowing the dirty filthy greedy trial-lawyer pond scum to buy their own pet judges Texas-style.

-ccm

15 posted on 10/05/2007 12:44:20 AM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
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To: ccmay

As with many other things, the media is exaggerating the “problem” of bought judges. It’s actually not a significant problem in Texas.

If it were a problem, the news here would be full of accusations and exposes. Odd, isn’t it, that all the complaining is coming from outside Texas?

It should be noted that the ENTIRE Texas judiciary is elected.

We also have a LOT of different ways to remove a particularly offensive judge well before an election. See: http://www.ajs.org/js/TX_methods.htm

This is much more effective than the appointed political/business crony types seen in other states. Trial lawyers “buying” in a judge just doesn’t happen much in Texas.


16 posted on 10/05/2007 1:05:34 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Ravi
I'm moving to Denton, Texas (north of Dallas - Fort Worth), from California.

Whereabouts you moving to?

17 posted on 10/05/2007 1:15:17 AM PDT by ThePythonicCow (The Greens steal in fear of pollution, The Reds in fear of greed; Fear arising from a lack of Faith.)
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To: Spktyr
"all the complaining is coming from"

The complaining is also coming from mootbats that can't get anything done via the ballot box.

Our problem is the appointed (Federal) judges. Can you say William Wayne Justice? That fine fellow has done more to ruin Texas than every "bought" judge, no question. Can you imagine that guy standing for election?

Ah, if only.

18 posted on 10/05/2007 2:17:45 AM PDT by Proud_texan (Just my opinion, no relationship to reality is expressed or implied.)
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To: Proud_texan

Yup. Moonbats can’t get any traction at the ballot box, and they can’t get any traction in the court because the judges are answerable to the people here.


19 posted on 10/05/2007 2:52:05 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: ThePythonicCow

weatherford. We’ll be in the same general neighborhood.


20 posted on 10/05/2007 5:35:40 AM PDT by Ravi
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