Subj : Re: Um...no comment?
To   : Frank Reid
From : Finnigann
Date : Sun Sep 18 2005 01:00 pm

-=> Frank Reid wrote to Angus McLeod <=-

 FR>   Re: Re: Um...no comment?
 FR>   By: Angus McLeod to Frank Reid on Sun Sep 18 2005 00:22:00

 > I'll agree that lawsuits can result in ludicrous judgements for trivial
 > matters.  But to legislate a cap is to give free license to those
 > companies that feel the cap is within their budget.

 FR> Most of the truly ludicrous awards do get overturned or reduced on
 FR> appeal, as the hospitals and insurers have far deeper legal pockets
 FR> than the consumer. But the insurer (and the doctor) can't *count* on
 FR> that.  Thus, they must continue to increase malpractice insurance costs
 FR> to protect against that occasional ludicrous settlement that does get
 FR> by.  An obstetrician friend of mine said his insurance costs have
 FR> literally *doubled* just in the past year, to a point where his income
 FR> doesn't compare favorably even to high-end IT positions!  That's after
 FR> eight years of medical school and 15 years of practice!  He's seriously
 FR> considering giving up the practice for less stressful and more
 FR> lucrative pursuits.  It's a damn shame...

 FR> The fact is that twelve "Joes" off the street shouldn't be allowed to
 FR> make decisions on culpability and to award an individual $100M.  Real
 FR> damages can be easily calculated, e.g. how much income was lost, how
 FR> much will ongoing care be, etc.  However, as someone suggested,
 FR> punitive damages should only be assessed by a body of medical
 FR> jurisprudence that is trained and focused on only that function.  No,
 FR> we certainly don't want any hack with a sharp blade performing
 FR> open-heart surgery.  But we also must understand that the human body is
 FR> a delicate machine, and that not every medical procedure is going to be
 FR> effective (or even correct!)

You know that is NOT what I was talking about. You have compitent surgeons
performing 1500 hysterectoms a year just because tehy are easy and lucratitive.
This sort of abouse should be stopped in the medical profession but some
doctors are willing to bend the patient over backwards to justify such
operations.

Malpracticve doesn't have to result in death to be wrong.

There are alot of shady offices set up and these bums are the reason insurance
rates go up. Not the claims but the continual practice of covering up after
their work.

With 'w's capping awards, he is saying it's OK to hack up the citizens as long
as you make a profit and you contribute to my party...

A whining conservative... something new this year.



    "We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology,
     in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."
                       - Carl Sagan



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