Greedy Trial Lawyer
In Your Face
I Plead Guilty To Making Bad Doctors Paranoid
Category: In Your Face
People like me are responsible for the following falling dominoes: filing medical malpractice lawsuits against emergency room physicians, creating litigation paranoia among ER physicians, resulting in the practice of defensive medicine by cover-your-ass ER docs, who order costly medical testing and care. That is the indictment filed by Chris Rangel on his medical blog.
If anybody cares about the response of this greedy trial lawyer - I plead guilty as charged.
How Defensive Medicine Changes the Practice of Medicine.
Emergency physicians are well known in the medical profession to be paranoid about litigation. And well they should be. Emergency medicine docs are among such litigation high risk specialties as obstetricians and neurosurgeons. There is every reason to believe (and some evidence) that this paranoia alters how these physicians practice medicine and not necessarily for the better.The practice of emergency medicine (among other high risk specialties) has become so regimented and infused with defensive medicine tactics that many ER docs are not even aware of how this has changed the way they think.
Medical malpractice attorneys are not directly at fault for this mess. But I don't see this problem correcting itself as long as physicians feel that the current tort system is a disincentive to changing from a mostly CYA (Cover Your Ass) system to one which couples good medical care to proper resource utilization. However, tort lawyers tend to oppose every single reform attempt and so in my book, if they are not part of the solution, then they are part of the problem.
From RangelMD.com
Not only am I guilty as charged, but I have every intention to continuing filing a lawsuit whenever a patient is seriously injured as a result of improper, unacceptable, substandard medical care. In my book, Dr. Chris, it is the job of the medical profession to pursue every single reform of the medical delivery system in order to do no harm in emergency rooms. Stop trying to blackmail the victims of medical malpractice into giving ER doctors a pass in order to remedy their paranoia. If ER doctors are paranoid about potential medical malpractice claims it is because they have earned it.
Hospital Screw-ups - To Bill Or Not To Bill
Category: In Your Face
Poof! Hospitals are making charges for medical errors disappear from their bills.
More Than Half Of Massachusetts Hospitals Waive Fees For 'Never Events'
Thirty-three of 61 hospitals in Massachusetts have voluntarily adopted policies that waive fees for 28 "never events," such as wrong-site surgery and harmful medication errors, and other hospitals said they intend to do so in the future, according to a recent survey by The Leapfrog Group, the Boston Globe reports. According to the Globe, the fee waivers come "amid growing resistance from government and health insurers to paying for poor outcomes."
This sounds fair to me. But, not all hospitals are willing to use an eraser when bad practices cause additional medical charges.
Walter Ettinger, president of UMass Memorial Medical Center, which charges for medical errors, said, "Most people don't want to have these complications and infections," but "hospitals and doctors should be paid fairly for their services."
I can see the advertising for UMass Memorial Medical Center: We charge for medical screw-ups - it's the fair thing to do.
Mr. President, An Easy-Bake Oven Shouldn't Send Kids To The ER
Category: In Your Face
More evidence that the Bush Administration is dismantling the federal health and safety agencies created to protect us and our children.
Number of Kids Hurt by Dangerous Products More than Doubles
A new study finds that the number of children injured by products recalled for fire- and burn-related hazards more than doubled in the last five years, in comparison with the preceding decade.The study, conducted by the nonprofit organization Kids in Danger (KID), examined the 40 children's products recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the last five years for risk of fire and burns, and analyzed the recall process and its participants.
The report found that products were recalled for electrical failure, battery failure, flammability, and exposed heat surface/substance. A total of 5,400,014 units were recalled.
"These recalls demonstrate the Consumer Product Safety Commission lacks the leadership, the money, the staff and the legal authority it needs to protect children from dangerous products," said Brian Imus, State Director for Illinois PIRG. "Consumers and parents deserve better than after-the-fact, ineffective recalls."
The President needs to bake some cookies down at his ranch.
While the report found that the majority of the products, nearly 60%, were recalled due to battery and electrical failure, the product which caused the most injuries and had the second largest recall was Hasbro Inc.'s Easy-Bake Oven, whose hazard was an exposed heat surface.
The Mud And The AG
Category: In Your Face
After watching the several appearances of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before Congress I had concluded (a) candor was not his middle name, (b) competence was not his strong suit and (c) his motto must be laws were made to be broken.
President Bush, who probably received a two-sentence summary of each of Alberto's appearances prepared by Karl Rove, arrived at different conclusions.
Alberto Gonzales resigns as AG
In a statement tinged with bitterness and regret, Bush said Monday that he accepted the resignation reluctantly, while also appearing to bend to the political reality that the department had become dysfunctional under Gonzales' leadership."After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Department, Judge Gonzales decided to resign his position, and I accept his decision," Bush said. "It's sad that. . . his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons."
From the L.A. Times
Was the Attorney General dragged through the mud...or, was he the mud?
Is Dogfighting As Bad As Hunting In Atlanta?
Category: In Your Face
I am not a big fan of hunters who sit in tree stands and wait for some unfortunate deer to wander into telescope range. But, my distaste for hunting is nothing compared to my absolute disgust at the thought of staged dogfighting and the related atrocities which have been revealed by the charges against Michael Vick. Apparently, some Vick supporters in the Atlanta area think hunting and dogfighting are equally bad. I worry about the hunting they may have seen.
NAACP Urges NFL to Let Vick Play Again
A civil rights organization says Michael Vick should be allowed to return to the NFL, preferably the Atlanta Falcons, after serving his sentence for his role in a dogfighting operation."As a society, we should aid in his rehabilitation and welcome a new Michael Vick back into the community without a permanent loss of his career in football," said R.L. White, president of the NAACP's Atlanta chapter. "We further ask the NFL, Falcons, and the sponsors not to permanently ban Mr. Vick from his ability to bring hours of enjoyment to fans all over this country."
White said the Falcons quarterback is a human being who has made a mistake and should be allowed to prove that he has learned from that mistake.
White said he regretted that the plea deal will mean all the facts of the case might never be known.
"Some have said things to save their own necks," White said. "Michael Vick has received more negative press than if he had killed a human being."
White said he does not support dogfighting and that he considers it as bad as hunting.
Overlawyered Believes Polling Judges Is Nonsensical
Category: In Your Face
Ted Frank, at Overlawyered, must have spent years studying the techniques of the old logical argument called poisoning the well. His latest pre-emptive strike is against a Baylor Law Review study which, apparently, arrived at conclusions not to Ted's liking.
Bill Childs notes a Baylor Law Review study polling Texas judges on whether they think there are problems requiring tort reform.I can't imagine why anyone thinks such a study will produce useful results. [Read as: Only lunatics would think of asking judges if more tort reform is needed.]
But there's a larger problem with the very nature of the study. Judges who correctly run their courtroom and follow the law are generally not going to have runaway juries, so they are likely to say (and even say correctly) that their juries generally don't produce outlandish results. The problem requiring reform are judges who are in the pocket of the plaintiffs' bar, and create judicial hellholes...[Read as: Some judges work in jurisdictions where verdicts are not pleasing to corporations, insurance companies and me.]
Polling judges in judicial hellholes to find out whether there is a need for legal reform like polling O.J. Simpson to find out if there's a problem with domestic violence. [Read as: Only Hitler would be a worst person to poll.]
Nevertheless, expect to see the poll widely used by the litigation lobby and their academic water-carriers in upcoming months and years. [Read as: Any professor who disagrees with me and my buddies in Corporate America is intellectually bankrupt.]
May I suggest that Ted has been carrying so much water for so long that he is developing two humps on his back.
Relatively Rich Physicians Can Always Move To Texas
Category: In Your Face
Hoisting a Save Your Neurons banner a medical blogger who apparently enjoys his relatively high-paying job is throwing smoke grenades at the civil justice system.
There may be a neuron or two loose in the brain of Dr. Kevin Pho at Kevin, M.D. He remains in a stale and out-dated language mode continuing to label doctors as victims in medical malpractice claims, to deny the reality of grief, sorrow and mental suffering and to blame trial lawyers for encouraging the medical profession to move to Texas. (Doesn't he know lawyers for justice are now representing the real victims of medical malpractice?)
In the midst of his pathetic, time-worn diatribe Kevin assures us that doctors will always have a relatively high-paying job. At least we know what occupies most of his neurons.
In Kevin's own words:
Lawyers win again, patients lose
Illinois has found another way to victimize physicians:Kate McDonough, spokesperson for the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians, said the new amended legislation allows a jury in a civil trial to award damages for grief, sorrow and mental suffering. The original legislation prohibited jurors in a civil trial from considering those three factors, she said.
McDonough said the new bill also deleted language limiting the amount of damages that could be awarded.
I can't really say that doctors really lose here - they can simply move to a malpractice-friendly state like Texas and continue working. The patients however, are left with a lack of physician access, making them the ultimate losers in this scenario.
Update:
Happyman puts it even more bluntly in the comments below. The runaway tort system really hurts patients more, not doctors:And it's much more of a problem for PATIENTS than doctors - we will always have a relatively high-paying job, but if you are in a car wreck & need a craniotomy, blame your local trial lawyers for ending up a vegetable, as threatening or suing your local ER for not getting a neurosurgeon in time isn't gonna save your neurons.
Imagine The Terrible Stress Error-Prone Doctors Feel
Category: In Your Face
Pity the poor doctor. Making medical mistakes causes stress, sleep problems and loss of confidence. We need to help them cope.
Survey finds many docs stress mistakes
CHICAGO (AP) -- Patients aren't the only ones harmed by medical errors, according to a survey released Wednesday that found many doctors who make mistakes - and even those who come close - suffer stress, sleep problems and loss of confidence.Job stress related to medical errors potentially could make some doctors prone to depression, quitting or even making additional mistakes, underscoring the need for helping them cope, said Washington University psychologist Amy Waterman, the study's lead author.
Try this, docs, as a coping mechanism. Stop making mistakes.
Special note to Amy - maybe some of these malpractitioners need to quit so they and their patients can sleep better.
Lessons From A Dumb, Pompous, Whining Flea
Category: In Your Face
There are physicians who are doing a fine job of blogging on health care issues. Then, there was this one physician, Dr. Lindeman (a.k.a. Flea), who was unmasked in the middle of his medical malpractice trial as the world's dumbest medical blogger.
Flea (and his defunct blog) is Bob Coffield's subject at Health Care Law Blog.
MD Net Guide Article: Are Physician Blogs in a Legal and Ethical Twilight Zone?
Last month I had the opportunity to collaborate with Fard Johnmar of Envision Solutions on an article for MD Net Guide, "Social Media Notebook: Are Physician Blogs in a Legal and Ethical Twilight Zone?" The article looks at the recent incident involving Dr. Lindeman, who blogged under the pseudonym "Flea," and the risks associated with physician blogging.I shared some legal tips that physician bloggers should consider when blogging, including:
*Anonymous blogging does not guarantee your privacy
*Consider informing your employer about your blog [Consider?]
*Follow your HIPAA training
*Post a legal disclaimer
*Be cautious about giving advice to patients
I believe Bob left out some other tips that would have served "Flea" well. They are:
*Never blog about an ongoing medical malpractice case when you are the defendant
*Don't come across as a pompous ass or a whining victim of the legal system
SICKO Reviewed (Bashed) By Insurance Blog - Moore Is Confused
Category: In Your Face
Mike Feehan at INSUREBLOG, has pioneered a new movie review technique, the half-assed critique based on a half-assed viewing. Why waste valuable time watching an entire film when you can see just enough of a movie to spout off?
I haven't seen all of Sicko, just enough to make a few comments. Yeah, the production looks good technically but basically, I think the movie should be no more relevant than, say, Hunt for Red October to an intelligent discussion of the issues of health care and health insurance.Because the undeniable fact is that insurance is expensive because health care is expensive, not the other way around. Does Moore say that? No he does not. The cost of insurance is rising because the cost of health care is rising. Does Moore say that? No, he does not. The high cost of insurance is a symptom of the deeper problem of health care costs - and if our nation cannot solve the deeper problem, we will never be rid of the symptom. Does Moore say that? No, he does not. He's pecking around the fringes, not facing the problem itself. Worse he does not clearly articulate the problem as either health care or health insurance.
Mike, I saw the whole movie and thought it was extremely thought-provoking. I left the theater (after approximately two hours) wondering how is it possible for the citizens in four different countries to have created universal health care systems which seem to provide quality medical care to all. You left the theater (after 20 minutes?) wondering how you could trash Moore's effort and message.
By the way, what does the following gibberish from your article mean and how is it relevant to a discussion of universal health care?
BTW, I favor universal health care. I also favor universal health insurance to help pay for health care. [And, insurance commissions?] There is a lot of work to do because wishing does not make it so. I do not confuse health care with health insurance. [One generates obscene profits for medical providers and the other obscene profits for insurance companies.] I believe that the linkage of group health insurance with one's employment, while a useful tactic for decades, has outlived its usefulness and it's time to re-think. At the same time, I believe that any universal insurance scheme whether public or private CANNOT succeed in this country, unless the costs of health care can be reduced and the annual rate of growth in those costs is brought under meaningful control.
Are you seriously suggesting that we first work on reducing the costs of health care (within the present system of delivery) and, only after achieving an acceptable rate of growth, should we talk about universal health care? If so, I have to ask if your cart even has a horse to put behind it.
If you had watched all of SiCKO you would have heard Michael Moore and others express the belief that any country able to spend billions to blow up people and buildings should be able to spend whatever it takes to provide universal health care to its citizens. I thought it was, as I said, thought-provoking.
I Know Exactly When You Will Know Caps On Damages Are Wrong
Category: In Your Face
I need to get something off my chest.
Caps on damages are flat-out wrong.
Why should victims who suffer the most be forced to discount their just compensation (determined by a jury) in order to permit insurance companies, governmental entities and corporations to keep more of their money?
How is it fair to reform the tort system by penalizing the most seriously injured?
If there is a need to weed out so-called frivolous lawsuits what does that have to do with meritorious claims on behalf of the most seriously injured?
Damage caps are always unjust and irrational in their application. They are designed and intended to do the most harm to America's most worthy plaintiffs.
They are a cruel and cynical fraud perpetrated on the American public which only recognizes the scam one unfortunate victim at a time.
Big Pharma Faces Big Problem In West Virginia
Category: In Your Face
Question: If drug manufacturers have decided they can safely market to consumers and spend millions on TV advertising that extols the magical power of endless prescription drugs, is there any reason to continue the charade of the learned intermediary doctrine (which gives Big Pharma a pass on giving warnings to patients)?
Answer: Not in West Virginia.
Drug and Device Law reports on this enlightened opinion - with a certain painful exasperation.
Take me home, country roads (W. Va. rejects learned intermediary doctrine)
Take me home -- so long as home is not West Virginia.On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia refused to adopt the learned intermediary doctrine. State of West Virginia ex rel. Johnson & Johnson Corp. v. Hon. Mark A Karl, No. 33211, slip op. (W. Va. June 27, 2007).
The learned intermediary doctrine provides, in general, that manufacturers of prescription drugs fulfill their duty to warn by warning prescribing physicians of the risks associated with a product. Manufacturers are not required to give warnings directly to patients.
That doctrine is widely, widely accepted.
The high court [of West Virginia] squarely rejected the doctrine on Wednesday.
Justice Davis' decision....concludes that direct-to-consumer advertising "obviates each of the premises upon which the [learned intermediary] doctrine rests." In a world of DTC [Direct to Consumer] advertising, patients become active participants in their health care, and they ask for particular drugs by name. And the existence of DTC ads supposedly proves that it is possible to explain accurately the risks and benefits of drugs directly to patients. The court therefore sees no benefit to adopting the learned intermediary doctrine. Manufacturers should simply warn patients directly of the risks associated with prescription drugs.
I do not pretend to know how much consumers are able to understand regarding the risks of a given drug. But, apparently, the manufacturers have determined they are perfectly able to understand the benefits and ask for the miracle pills by name.
And, Judicial Paradise Is (Drumroll) The State Of....
Category: In Your Face
The entire State of Delaware is considered a judicial paradise by business lawyers.
If any judicial hellholes are discovered in Delaware they are always microscopic and short-lived. The statewide Rapid Response Eradication Force assures that any outbreak of fair compensation of victims is quickly contained and neutralized. Nobody associated with the state's judicial system is permitted to use the phrase corporate wrongdoing. The worst level of corporate misconduct recognized in Delaware is a corporate boo-boo. You get the picture why business lawyers love the place. The question is, why should anyone else like it?
Corporations like Del. courts best
The verdict is in, and once again business lawyers ranked Delaware courts the nation's best in an annual survey sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.In a survey conducted by Harris Interactive Inc., 1,599 corporate lawyers were asked their thoughts about the fairness of the legal system in the 50 states.
The survey looked at 12 factors that affect businesses, including punitive damages, class-action lawsuits, the impartiality and competence of judges, and the fairness of juries.
The survey, which was restricted to lawyers representing companies with annual revenue of $100 million or more, and did not include plaintiffs' lawyers, points out the need for a simpler, more balanced legal system, Chamber officials said in announcing the results.
"The best thing a state can do to attract business is to have a balanced legal system," said Tom Donohue, the business group's president and chief executive officer. "An unfair system sucks the life out of a state's economy."
On the other hand, Bill Schulz, a spokesman for the American Association for Justice, which represents the nation's trial lawyers, blasted the Chamber-sponsored survey as "nothing more than propaganda to further their campaign to limit access to justice for those who've been the victims of corporate wrongdoing."
From DelawareOnline
Are There "Traps" In Pennsylvania For Doctors?
Category: In Your Face
I always thought of a trap as something that is not obvious as someone is walking into it. I think of speed traps, for example. If there were a huge sign that said "radar guns in use just around this next bend" who would call that a speed trap?
Clark Venable, at Waking Up Costs, has a different take on traps. Clark thinks that medical doctors are likely to be trapped by a Pennsylvania offer to pay student loans off over a ten year period. By his logic, medical school trapped these same doctors by educating them for a fee. Nice try, Clark.
(By the way, jackpot medical malpractice system is a nice touch.)
Pennsylvania Doctor Trap Number Two Proposed
Pennsylvania has chosen an interesting strategy to keep doctors from leaving the state. Rather than fix the current jackpot medical malpractice system they've decided to try to trap doctors that are already here.The legislature is now working on trap number two--a physician loan forgiveness program. For a period of ten years, for every year a physician practices in Pennsylvania after completing training the state will pay off ten percent of their student loan debt. If they leave early (say, after five years), they have to pay the state back ALL of the money the state paid toward their loans.
Medical Hellholes Revealed
Category: In Your Face
The report does not use the term "Medical Hellholes", but it does paint an ugly picture of the quality of medical practice in some states.
Public Citizen Issues Annual Ranking of State Medical Boards
Public Citizen today released its annual report ranking how effective state medical boards are at disciplining doctors, with Mississippi ranked worst and Alaska best.The rankings are based on state-by-state data released by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) about the number of disciplinary actions taken against doctors in 2006, combined with data from earlier FSMB reports covering 2004 and 2005. Public Citizen calculated the rate of serious disciplinary actions (revocations, surrenders, suspensions and probation/restrictions) per 1,000 doctors in each state for each year and compiled a national ranking of state boards by the average rate of serious disciplinary actions for 2004-2006 and for earlier three-year intervals. Non-serious board actions were not included.
There were 2,916 serious disciplinary actions taken by state medical boards in 2006, down 10.4 percent from the 3,255 serious actions taken in 2005. The national average disciplinary rate was 3.18 serious actions per 1,000 physicians, compared to 3.62 in 2005. The three-year state disciplinary rates ranged from 1.41 serious actions per 1,000 physicians (Mississippi) to 7.30 actions per 1,000 physicians (Alaska), a 5.2-fold difference between the best and worst states.
The bottom 10 states - those with the lowest serious disciplinary action rates for 2004-2006 - were, starting with the lowest: Mississippi (1.41 serious actions per 1,000 physicians); South Carolina (1.45); Minnesota (1.45); South Dakota (1.52); Nevada (1.68); Wisconsin (1.78); Washington (2.06); Delaware (2.22); Maryland (2.25); and Connecticut (2.34).
Nine states have experienced at least a 10-place drop in ranking between the 2001-2003 ranking and the 2004-2006 ranking: Alabama went from 13th to 26th; Georgia from 15th to 25th; Idaho from 14th to 24th; Mississippi from 20th to 51st; Nevada from 33rd to 47th; New Jersey from 24th to 40th; North Dakota from 3rd to 19th; South Dakota from 37th to 48th; and Virginia from 30th to 41st.
What does all this mean?
"The data demonstrate a remarkable variability in the rates of serious disciplinary actions taken by state boards," said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the health research group at Public Citizen. "As there is no reason to believe that physicians deserving of discipline are much more common in one state than another, these large differences in rates are likely due to the board's practices themselves. There is considerable evidence that most boards are under-disciplining physicians.""Most states are not living up to their obligations to protect patients from doctors who are practicing medicine in a substandard manner and endangering the lives and health of their patients," Wolfe said. "State legislatures must act to increase the amount of doctor discipline and patient protection. Without adequate oversight, many medical boards will continue to perform poorly."
"Medical Error Disclosure" - What A Novel Idea!
Category: In Your Face
Welcome to the concept of medical error disclosure. For those of you who are doctors or patients this may be a totally new experience for you. For those of you who are personal injury attorneys you may be more familiar with the concepts of medical error concealment or medical error denial.
Anyway, thanks to a good poop ("In which [a blogger answers] the questions posed in the titles of some scientific articles in a generally snarky and sarcastic manner") I was pointed to:
Disclosure of medical error: is it worth the risk?
Straumanis JP, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Abstract -The climate within the United States is rapidly changing with respect to patient and family knowledge of medical error and their expectations of the events that should occur after an error.
This article examines the history and changing tide of medical error disclosure, reviews the limited but growing body of literature surrounding patient and physician attitudes toward disclosing and discussing medical error, makes suggestions on what and how to disclose to patients and families that an error has occurred, and finally, discusses the effect of error disclosure.
CONCLUSION: It seems that if disclosure of medical error is made with compassion, in a timely manner, and with good communication skills both during and after the disclosure process, patients and their families are at least no more likely to seek legal action and some lawsuits may actually be avoided.
Should it really take the carrot of avoiding some lawsuits to convince doctors to disclose medical errors to the families of pediatric patients?
Dr. Jack Kevorkian And The Death Toll In Iraq
Category: In Your Face
The All Spin Zone connects the release of Dr. Jack Kevorkian from prison to the war in Iraq. Heavy thoughts, indeed.
A Death By Any Other Name Would Not Be Accepted
This coming Friday, Dr. Jack Kevorkian will be released from prison after serving eight years for his part in assisting in the suicides of over one hundred individuals...individuals that by and large suffered ailments that would eventually end their lives or that had taken from them the lives that they cherished such that they already felt dead...though by some trick of fate, remained here in this existence against their will.This past week Congress authorized a military spending bill that met with the president's approval and that did not include any timetable for withdrawal from Iraq...despite the fact that one can argue that the 2006 election sent a strong message that our elected officials bring an end to the war in Iraq and prevent the deaths of more U.S. soldiers.
Every indication suggests that George Bush will leave office...after eight years...with a significant presence of U.S. military troops still in Iraq. Back in 1998, the state of Michigan passed a law that led to the eight year imprisonment of Dr. Kevorkian for his part in facilitating the deaths of individuals who wanted to end their lives. Now I'm not suggesting the president or this congress should be imprisoned for their part in facilitating the death of 100 soldiers during the month of May...or the nearly 1,000 since last Memorial Day...or the 3,439 total soldiers killed in Iraq since the war began back in 2003.
The rest of the article is worth a read on this Memorial Day.
Malpractice Defense Attorneys Don't Like Sworn Testimony - From Their Doctor/Clients
Category: In Your Face
Critics: Medical review panels aren't working
CHEYENNE, WYOMING - Critics of panels that review medical malpractice cases in Wyoming say the oversight has not lowered the cost of malpractice insurance in the state. The panels have been around since 2005. The goal is to sort out frivolous claims from malpractice claims that have merit. Eric Easton directs the Wyoming Medical Review Panel. He says the panel has an effect on about 25% of medical malpractice cases in Wyoming. That means patients sometimes withdraw claims rather than have them go to court. Susie Pouliot, director of the Wyoming Medical Society, says the program would be more effective if panel reviews were mandatory, rather than optional. Pouliot says the society has not seen lower rates for medical malpractice insurance as a result of panel reviews.
So, who is avoiding the use of the panels? Probably the greedy trial lawyers, you might say. But, you would be wrong.
The rest of the story:
Medical malpractice defense attorneys say they usually tell their clients not to participate in the panel reviews. That's because what doctors say under oath in front of the panel can be used against them in court.
Obviously, the panels would enjoy the blessing of the defense attorneys if their clients could lie their way through the hearings without any fear.
I Would Rather Die Than Work At A Legal Boutique
Category: In Your Face
Why is it that defense firms are willing to be called trial boutiques? No self-respecting plaintiff's personal injury attorney would get up each morning, strap on his six-shooter and ride to his trial boutique.
Blawg's Blog has this post:
Small is the New Big...For Law
Larry Bodine smelled a "golden opportunity" for boutiques/smaller firms in his post a couple weeks back, Marketing Opportunity: Megafirms overpay $160,000 for First-year Associates:
"This creates a huge opportunity for mid-size and boutique law firms. Not only can they offer better rates but also more specialized expertise. Corporate Counsel are going to be looking for a 20-lawyer trial boutique in Minneapolis -- which does nothing but work in court-- as opposed to the litigation department of an expensive New York megafirm. Litigation accounts for 34% of overall corporate legal spending."
I know we will never see Gerry Spence's horse outside a boutique law firm - unless it would be while he was making a substantial withdrawal of compensation for an injured client.
Judging A Man By The Size Of His Home
Category: In Your Face
If John Edwards were a Republican his decision to live in a large home would be praised as proof there is an American Dream in our free enterprise system for every hardworking businessman. And, that family values are alive and well in North Carolina.
But, John Edwards is a Democrat.
John Edwards on his 24,000 sq. ft. home
Former Sen. John "Two Americas" Edwards spoke to the Columbia (S.C) State this morning about his lovely new home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.From that paper:
Edwards also responded to criticism over the 24,000-square-foot estate he and his wife are building outside Chapel Hill, N.C. Observers have questioned whether Edwards can be a sincere advocate for the poor while living in such splendor.
Edwards said his experience of growing up in modest means as the son of a mill worker made him want to do more for his family.
A wealthy trial lawyer, Edwards said he is able to do for his children what his father couldn't. "You don't want your kids' lives to be like yours. You don't want it to be as hard," he said.
Special, Favored, Protected No More
Category: In Your Face
In Oklahoma, doctors aren't so special anymore.
Special Malpractice Statute Unconstitutional
Monica Belinda Zeier brought a malpractice suit against Zimmer, Inc. and Theron S. Nichols, M.D., asserting that the doctor installed the wrong and defective replacement parts manufactured by Zimmer during her knee replacement surgery. Ms. Zeier failed to attach an affidavit of medical negligence signed by a physician to her complaint as required by Oklahoma law prior to the commencement of a lawsuit. Her case was dismissed. She challenged the decision by the trial court, asserting that the state law was unconstitutional in that it violated a provision in the Oklahoma state constitution prohibiting "special" statutes. In Zwier v. Zimmer, Inc., and Theron S. Nichols, M.D., 2006 WL 3717904, the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed.The defendants argued that a statute covering all health care providers is a general rather than a special law. The Supreme Court disagreed.
The affidavit of merit requirement immediately divides tort victims alleging negligence into two classes-those who pursue a clause of action in negligence generally and those who name medical professionals as defendants.
When treating doctors start providing affidavits of merit to patients as they make a diagnosis or start a treatment it may be fair to require patients to do the same in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Pity The Enslaved Emergency Doctors?
Category: In Your Face
GruntDoc is billed as the Ramblings of an Emergency Physician in Texas. Based on the following post, the only conclusion we can draw is that emergency physicians are slaves working in a wreck of a service and depriving emergency room patients of something. [Certainly not medical care.]
Health Insurance is not a "Right"
It's a reprint of a 1993 article, and its main points are still valid, in Frontpagemag.com, by Leonard Peikoff:Just one of the quotable quotes:
...
As with any good or service that is provided by some specific group of men, if you try to make its possession by all a right, you thereby enslave the providers of the service, wreck the service, and end up depriving the very consumers you are supposed to be helping. To call "medical care" a right will merely enslave the doctors and thus destroy the quality of medical care in this country, as socialized medicine has done around the world, wherever it has been tried, including Canada (I was born in Canada and I know a bit about that system first hand).
...
The last time I checked, it is mandatory for emergency rooms to treat everyone who enters regardless of their ability to pay. ER patients might be forgiven if they assume it is their right to be treated.
I have not seen Free The ER Docs placards carried by picketers outside emergency room departments so, apparently, the enslaved docs are relatively satisfied with their enslavement (including salary and fringe benefits).
Defense Department Turns Guns On Defense Attorneys
Category: In Your Face
They say dog owners begin to look like their dogs. The Bush Administration is beginning to look like its enemies.
Official calls for boycott of law firms representing detainees
A Defense Department official has stirred up a maelstrom in the American legal community by calling on U.S. corporations to boycott law firms whose attorneys represent suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Speaking to a morning radio talk show Thursday, Cully Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, rattled off a list of some of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.
Each apparently has attorneys providing pro bono, or no-charge, legal representation to captives at the U.S. Navy base, where the Bush administration is holding some 395 men and teens as so-called enemy combatants.
"I think quite honestly when corporate CEOs see that those firms are representing the very terrorists that hit their bottom line in 2001," he said, "those CEOs are going to make those law firms choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable firms.
"It's shocking," said Stimson, 43, a former federal attorney and Navy lawyer. "The major law firms in this country . . . are out there representing detainees."
It's shocking that any American government official, former federal lawyer and Navy lawyer would be out there making these threats. It is obvious the greatest threat to America comes from within and from an Administration that ignores the Constitution and our system of justice.