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Mal-practice lawsuits.; Doctors making mistakes....
Topic Started: Mar 27 2007, 03:20 PM (318 Views)
Killer Bee
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Should doctors be required to pay sky-rocketing insurance premiums because of mal-practice lawsuits, or should the burdeon of the funding be shifted back to the taxpayers by government intervention.



discuss.....
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Apocalypse Next Thursday
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I am afraid that I do not understand the question fully.

Do you mean, should doctors pay large fines for messing up patients as auto insurance people pay higher premiums for getting into wrecks?

Or do you mean that because the doctor was sued for malpractice, whether it happened or not, someone should pay the court costs?

I apologize, Bee. Can you clarify further?
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Killer Bee
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Sorry about that ANT, I re-read what I posted and saw it was full of mistakes. I'll try to clarify what I said earlier.

Doctors are now required to carry insurance, by law, to cover mal-practice mistakes. Since this insurance is very expensive, the cost is being shifted back to the consumer, or the patients to be more precise. Even if you carry medical insurance at 80/20, the 20 you're still paying can run into hundreds if not thousands for the difference between the two. Is this fair? Or should the state move and say "okay, we will move in and cover a certain percentage of the mal-practice premium" so the prices of medical care will fall and take an amount of pressure off the patients. My question is, where should the line be drawn, either the doctors have to raise their prices because of this ungodly high insurance premiums or the state gets to regulate the medical profession more than now by easing the burdeon of insurance costs to the doctors?


discuss.....
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Apocalypse Next Thursday
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I thank you, Bee, for now I understand the topic.

Personally?

Anything that allows the people to get the health coverage they need is a good plan, regardless of its flaws. Health insurance should not be an unattainable goal, nor should it be so costly that it would be physically better for you to go without and sack the burden on the state. There should be a balance.

Doctors now pay quite a bit for malpractice coverage, and it's interesting how it affects their cost. A trip to the doctor for a checkup can now run you about $200-600 a visit, depending on what needs done. Hospital visits? Better hope you're dying.

Another thing to look at is the malpractice laws themselves. How are they governed? What constitutes malpractice, and to what degrees? This could be an underlying problem with the system, and not so much just the coverage.

I digress, i'm getting off topic. Long story short, the state should be shouldering some of this burden themselves, at least until the federal government has an actual ANSWER to the health care crisis in America.

I welcome all rebuttals.
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"I contend that we are both atheists. I simply believe in one less god than you. When you realize why you reject all other gods, then you will understand why I reject yours." - Unknown
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Mister Sinister
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That's a toughie...even if the state shoulders most (or even some) of the responsibility, would not the taxpayers actually be shouldering that burden? I mean, we pay either way, right, so what's the difference?

Should the malpractice board undergo some sort of change? Or is everything Kosher as far as malpractice proceedings go?

It seems to me somewhat like suing the school district/Police dept/Fire Dept...even though you may win, that money comes directly from the community and it is they who ultimately suffer. Even though medical care is'nt exactly a public service like the previously mentioned institutions, the public pays the price either way.

I hate to say this but maybe there should be some sort of cap or regulation, or make it harder to sue for malpractice...I don't really know because I don't know how it operates really. But it seems to me regulation on lawsuits are going to help the general public in some way...at least maybe protect them from those who don't have an airtight case, looking to exploit the system. Who knows?
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piercehawkeye45
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I think the government should help out with health care as much as possible so of course I think they should carry some of the load as well.

Mister Sinister
 
or make it harder to sue for malpractice

Do you know what you can sue for? If they mess up big time then of course you should be able to sue but I don't know how small of mistakes you can sue for. The amount of reimbursement always comes into question.
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严加华
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piercehawkeye45
Mar 28 2007, 05:37 AM
The amount of reimbursement always comes into question.

That is, indeed, always the question.

Malpractice suits are a necessity. Some doctors are complete jackasses who do utterly stupid things like take off the left leg when it's supposed to be the right. These shitheels should be nailed to the wall fiscally. Then they should have their license to practice revoked.

But there is evidence that malpractice awards are getting out of hand.

From Time Magazine
Quote:
 
Alarm over malpractice suits is nothing new. The word crisis was used in the mid-1970s, when there were fewer than five malpractice suits filed annually for every 100 doctors. The A.M.A. report cites statistics from one large insurance company that in 1983 there were 16 malpractice suits filed for every 100 doctors. During 1974, according to data from Ohio's Jury Verdict Research Inc., there were only four malpractice awards in excess of $1 million. In 1983, by comparison, there were 70. The total value of awards to plaintiffs that year reached $2 billion.
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piercehawkeye45
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I agree, that is way too high. You should be reinbursed for your lost fully but you should not be getting 100 times what you would need to survive and be comfortable.
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Mister Sinister
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So, how do you regulate it? How do you hold accountable those who Smurf! up as badly as previously mentioned, AND protect the next poor sap from being bilked, by a completely different Doctor, based on hiked insurance rates?
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piercehawkeye45
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More that I think about it, we should make the doctors MORE accountable for mal-practice. Yes, doctors do make honest mistakes, but if you don't punish them for their mistakes, then they will tend to make many more of them.
Dropped the atomic bomb let them know that it's real
Speak soft with a big stick do what I say or be killed
I'm America!

I have found the enemy and he is us.
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严加华
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In the USA the solution would be likely to cap malpractice awards. California has such caps and, not by coincidence, I suspect, has lower malpractice insurance rates.

Or you could adopt the Canadian approach:
1) Juries don't set awards, judges do.
2) Lawyers aren't allowed to take a share of any awards as their fee.

I think that latter point, more than anything, has driven up the ludicrous levels of "pain and suffering" claims.
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Killer Bee
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Mar 28 2007, 04:33 AM
2) Lawyers aren't allowed to take a share of any awards as their fee.


The big issue with this is the fact that most people just can't afford to walk into an attorney's office and start shelling out cash to get their case started. When they pay, the attorney's fee is usually taken out of settlements or awards, outside of the retainer and filing fees.
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agafaba
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Killer Bee
Mar 28 2007, 02:23 PM
严加华
Mar 28 2007, 04:33 AM
2) Lawyers aren't allowed to take a share of any awards as their fee.


The big issue with this is the fact that most people just can't afford to walk into an attorney's office and start shelling out cash to get their case started. When they pay, the attorney's fee is usually taken out of settlements or awards, outside of the retainer and filing fees.

I think ??? was referring to getting paid percentages. If it was just a case of being paid a flat rate after the case i believe it would be ok.
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严加华
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That is, in fact, what I was referring to.

Lawyers have to bill by the hour (or some other such fixed rate). They don't have to collect by the hour. They are not allowed to charge percentage of settlement.

Sorry I didn't make that clear.
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Taslan
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Killer Bee
Mar 27 2007, 07:07 PM
Sorry about that ANT, I re-read what I posted and saw it was full of mistakes. I'll try to clarify what I said earlier.

Doctors are now required to carry insurance, by law, to cover mal-practice mistakes. Since this insurance is very expensive, the cost is being shifted back to the consumer, or the patients to be more precise. Even if you carry medical insurance at 80/20, the 20 you're still paying can run into hundreds if not thousands for the difference between the two. Is this fair? Or should the state move and say "okay, we will move in and cover a certain percentage of the mal-practice premium" so the prices of medical care will fall and take an amount of pressure off the patients. My question is, where should the line be drawn, either the doctors have to raise their prices because of this ungodly high insurance premiums or the state gets to regulate the medical profession more than now by easing the burdeon of insurance costs to the doctors?


discuss.....

If you do that, it would just put pressure back right on the people. Those who pay taxes. Unfair, considering that a lot of Illegal Aliens don't do so, or end up not paying as much as they should.

Yes. Doctors should be punished for making mistakes. No, I don't think they should have to pay insurance for something that may or may not happen. I think that, very simply put, if they screw up, they should pay out of their pocket. As in, directly going after the person. Not the actual clinic.

This of course doesn't mean if any harm was done by the clinics equipment, I strictly mean the doctor themselves. No insurance should be paid. They should have enough money from their profession in any case.

Also, if a doctor can't pay the costs (which would scale on how large or small it is), then as a side option, that doctor could instead simply revoke the rights to be one, and then the government can pick up any cost resulting.

Of course, this should make all operations, treatment, and such mandatory in video recording/audio recording to protect the doctor from idiots that sue just to see if they can get lucky.

- Taslan
"Who was the most beautiful Seraph in Heaven?"
And I reply, "Seraph Michael?"
"No."
And I reply, "Seraph Samael?"
"No."
And I reply in finality; "Then surely, Seraph Seraphiel."
"No.
The most beautiful Angel in Heaven was,
Seraph Lucifer
And as He fell, His feathers departed
Thusly, were the Souls of man and woman
Tis the reason why He wishes so desperately for
His Lost Feathers... His Wings...
To fly
Back Home."
-God to Taslan
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