Before depositions are even taken, a plaintiff agrees to accept $7500 on a dubious case arising from an allegedly undiagnosed pregnancy, and the defense lawyer is delighted to have made the case go away for essentially nuisance value. But the real costs go far beyond the cash (The Blog That Ate Manhattan, Jul. 7, via Notes of an Anesthesioboist).
One Comment
Before trying to make peace with medical malpractic, doctors should look at the gross discrimination they are exposed to by this system. They also should look at the amount of profit being generated by this for lawyers, and the overwhelming cost to the medical system in transacting malpractice. No one seems to realize that bad outcomes will occur and mistakes will happen, it is a fact. We always try to do the best, but there are and will ever be mistakes because we are all human and no one can deny it as well as even when done perfectly bad outcomes are a mathmatical definite always. This is not a fair system. As soon as doctors accept this, then the next step is forming a union and suing the government, national trial lawyers, medical insurers, to make a fair playing field. There are better ways to care for complications from bad outcomes and mistakes then to drag a doctor to court and make him or her feel like a criminal. There is a better way then having attorneys collect 60% of all moneys awarded in a malpractice suit. For doctors, stop being boyscouts trying to play nice. This is blatant discrimination that our public takes as a given and an opportunity to hit the lotto. Do you think it will really ever become fair by whining about it. There is a real organized crime syndicate that is practicing right now, paying off personnel associated around the hospitals, I have seen nurses, paramedics, police, medical records clerks etc. paid high cash under the table to funnel information. Doctors need a class action suit of their own to balance the playing field. It would shock most people what our society spends in trying these cases, and what lawyers are making when they win these cases. Definitely it is a loss for John Q. Public, but the media never shows this.