Medical Malpractice

oscardeuce

Active Member
Any of you Docs out there want to add.
My insurance has jumped from $60,000/year to$375,000/year.
This costs me $24/ per patient, and I am not making that up.
The local medical school is down-sizing because of fewer students. All patients will suffer.
 

lovethesea

Active Member
:mad: This is getting to a critical point. My Aunt lives in a town in Illinois that lost all of their Cardio and High Risk OB's.
Next in line she thinks are the Ortho Surg Doc. :nope:
Here in STL, a TON of the practices have been screaming to the papers about it and went to a hearing in the Capital.
 

fishman830

Active Member
that's rediculous!! that's a LOT of money... and that point about all patients will suffer.. that is true, so i think that the insurrance companies are gonna end up lowering it sooner or later but that doens't help much, does it?
 

audisteve

Member
Ahhh yes the Malpractice discussion. Both of my parents are doctors; one is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the other is a radiologist. Plus on top of that I run both of their Personal Corporations. I wanted so badly to become a doctor when I grew up, but after working in the field I am staying as far away as possible. Everyone who is not a doctor or grew up around them really can’t understand the work and dedication that is involved. Current insurance rates are so high because most of the American public are just big cry babies, they want only two things they want to get better quickly and pain free. For the malpractice side of the argument I would ask the American public if they believe that current medicine is perfect? If their answer is no(obviously), well then how can they sue over an imperfect science? Doctors are held to one of the highest standards known and yet they are rarely praised and always criticized. But for the sake of argument there are those doctors who have performed in gross negligence and should pay for their mistakes but only to a point. Hopefully soon a court will allow a cap to be placed on payments for frivolous suits. It’s ridicules for people to sue a doctor over asinine claims, this isn’t a perfect science and no single person claims it to be perfect. People die everyday, medicines purpose is not to save lives but to merely extend them. There is no guarantee when you enter a hospital that says you’ll be walking out of there in good health, do you want to know why, because life is dynamic and crap happens. 40 Million Americans can’t afford health insurance and it’s because of the rest of the population that drives the cost up through frivolous check ups and multiple prescriptions. Don’t blame the doctors they are trying their best. I’ll leave you with the famous words of Dennis Leary: “Life sucks, wear a freaking helmet.”
 

nw2sltfsh

Member
I currently pay out of pocket $150.00 per week for family insurance. This is most likely the best money I have ever spent. My children's pediatrician is the kindest most patient person I have ever met. He identified a heart condition with my son when he was 1 week old. a condition that left untreated could have killed him. If I was asked to provide my entire paycheck for insurance for my children I would think it is money well spent.
In America we have the privilege of being allowed to be treated regardless of ability to pay. Some people who are Sue happy should consider what would happen if they lived elsewhere.
The thought of my pediatrician not practicing anymore because of malpractice insurance cost is something that makes me lose sleep at night.
Thank you oscardeuce for the service that you provide - someday you may save my life
 

lovethesea

Active Member
and plus we need to rid the fools on TV that are hypnotizing people that don't know any better in to believing that thay are due millions of dollars for everything and anything these ambulance chasers can come up with. Now Vioxx in up in the hangmans noose. Then probably the Docs that prescribed it.
:nope: Very slippery slope...
 

tangman99

Active Member
I agree the majority of doctors are great and it is wrong that all have to suffer. However, there are some doctors that are so incompentent that they have no business being doctors. The whole mess of malpractice insurance, frivolous lawsuits and all that goes with it has made a huge mess of the medical field.
Now let me be clear that I am totally against frivolous lawsuits and ambulance chasers out to make money. The people should be lined up against a wall and shot. Whenever a system is in place for a noble reason, there are always going to be the vultures that take advantage of it.
Now for those who want to call everyone sue happy and cry babies that hire lawyers to deal with bad doctors, it's obvious that you have never suffered or know someone close to you that has suffered under negligent care. There will always be those who take advantage of every opportunity to make money, but sometimes it's just the right course of action.
My wife lost her father many years ago to a doctor that was negligent during a routine operation. They sued the doctor and hospital but money was not the issue. They were offerred several settlements on numerous occassions, but the doctor would not admit guilt in any of the settlements which is what they were after to get his licensed revoked. After going through the court system, the doctor was found guilty and it became part of the record. There was a monetary award that was a small fraction of the offerred settlements and the majority went into a trust for her little sister as she was still very young. In the end, the doctor lost his license as he deserved.
Now if you think my wife is a crybaby for what she did, then I can attest that I have heard her cry often over the years. Especially on the day that would have been her dads birthday or when she holds his 2 year old granddaughter that he will never know. Given all the alternatives, I'm sure she would choose to have her dad back if she could.
And AudiSteve, "Crap Happens"? Well, my friend, I hope this never happens to your wife or children.
 

lovethesea

Active Member
OH obsolutely!! When its down right negligence....right ON!!
Like the stories a few years back about the horrors in the operating rooms. Wrong legs, arms, kidney,

[hr]
, being taken from the patient. Total neg. Or the Anethesiolgist who was routinely leaving surgeries and all heck was breaking loose.
Also the class actions that go through and millions and millions are awarded and the dead persons' family or the victim gets barely enough to cover funeral expenses after the lawyers are paid a ton of $$$
:nope:
 
T

tizzo

Guest

Originally posted by oscardeuce
Any of you Docs out there want to add.
My insurance has jumped from $60,000/year to$375,000/year.
This costs me $24/ per patient, and I am not making that up.
The local medical school is down-sizing because of fewer students. All patients will suffer.

I visit you... you screw up... I sue... We split the money.
Problem solved... well sorta.
ONLY JOKING!!!
 

dicemanj

Member
I feel bad that your premiums are going up, so does your gross drop by 315K. I wish I could take a hit of 315K and still survive. I agree that there are a ton of bad law suits, but we can not put a small cap of 250,000. That no where comes close to compensate some people for the huge errors made by Drs. Some how we need better juriors to give out the awards to people in these cases, or possibly let the judges, or a panel of judges decide.
I work in the financial services industry. If I certify financial statements that are incorrect, I am fined and possibly could go to jail. I have never seen a Dr go to jail for an honest mistake.
I am not trying to down grade Drs, I do have a lot respect for most of them. But some are simply over paid for what they do and think they are God. Maybe if all the bad Drs and in my opinion over paid Drs, would not have been paid for the past 20 years the premiums would not have gone up. There are alos rediculous amounts of cost from hospitals that are past on to insurance cos that should not be. The simple example, why does 2 aspirn in the hosipital cost $10. The insurance has to pay $10 for 10 cents of medicine.
Another thought, maybe the threat of these lawsuits over the years have made our Drs the greatest in the world. If they are not accounted for their actions, what would make them strive to be the best.
Again, I truely do feel bad that the premiums are going up. I have a family and I a very gracious to our Drs, but I think there is more to the insurance premiums than lawsuits.
Good luck to you.
 
A

autopilot

Guest
I don't have insurance. So I don't goto doctors. I can't afford it. :help: I recently got off my parents insurance which he paid about 600 bucks a month for and it wasn't even very good. I hate how everything is its ridiculous
 

treystang

Member

Originally posted by oscardeuce
Any of you Docs out there want to add.
My insurance has jumped from $60,000/year to$375,000/year.
This costs me $24/ per patient, and I am not making that up.
The local medical school is down-sizing because of fewer students. All patients will suffer.

That sucks.. I hate doctors though.. it seems all they want to do is give you a pill and then charge your insurance company $300-400 for 5 minutes worth of effort to write a perscription. :mad:
EDIT: sorry re-read that sounded kinda rude towards you and that is not what I meant. The insurance company are the ones to blame.. as well as the greedy doctors.
 

judyk

Member
A lot of things need to change. Lawyers shouldn't get the bulk of the settlements. But, the insurance companies need to make changes too. We pay $948 a month for a family policy. Then if your kid has a fever and earache you can't get into the doctor for a week. You end up taking them to the emergency room. That's a $700 ear infection. This may be the last year we can provide health insurance for our employees.
 

dicemanj

Member
Judyk, that is making it difficuly to be self employed, but that is part of the salary people should take into consideration of being self employed or working for someone that offers insurance.
 
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