Having a healthcare degree, working in healthcare and being a Litigation Manager handling medical malpractice litigation for hospitals for over 25 yrs, working for a company that owns hospitals, I have seen, read, reviewed, and heard literally thousands and thousands of medical malpractice allegations. I can offer my opinion from the front row:
~ all political parties are adequately represented in claims and lawsuits brought.
~ there ARE many MANY frivolous claims and lawsuits, where no injury was sustained, nor any negligence committed. Oh the examples I could give....
~ there ARE many MANY legitimate claims and lawsuits, where real injury was sustained, and negligence committed. Oh the examples I could give....
~ MANY people either solely cause or contribute to their own injury by doing illogical things. Oh the examples I could give....
~ TRULY, some things are acts of God or whatever you want to call it...or whatever diety you wish to insert there....but sometimes things happen and it's nobody's fault. Unfortunately, IMHO, too often some in our society do not like that answer, and wish to capitalize and reap monetary gain from such an incident, regardless of no negligence.
~ FAR FAR FAR too many "claimants" try to "hit the lottery" in their financial expectations of a settlement, NOT commensurate with the injury.
~ FAR FAR FAR too many juries do not listen to the evidence of a case, as prescribed by law, and decide based on other factors (such as anger, punish, send a message, etc like Mav mentioned)
~The COST of frivolous lawsuits ABSOLUTELY impacts healthcare costs. No one's mentioned the DEFENSE COSTS associated with frivolous lawsuits, that's where a ton of money is spent. Hospitals and doctors must hire attorneys and claim reps to defend them in a claim or lawsuit, regardless of its merit -->....yes, the attorneys make a boatload of money---> the malpractice insurance company may have to raise premiums to cover these increased costs --> the doctor may have to raise their fees to pay for their malpractice premium -->and then companies may raise healthcare premiums for their employees. This is an over-simplified example, but it does demonstrate how healthcare costs can be affected by litigation costs. My example doesn't address the "corporate greed" argument.
~There's very little effective TORT REFORM in effect, in any State, despite what you've heard.
California has probably the most effective, and has had for about 30 yrs. Claimants and attorneys often find ways "around" tort reform.
Louisiana has a "Medical Review Panel" (MRP) where a claimant must first submit their claim to the 3 member physician MRP for review. The panel then votes if the claim is meritorious and allowed to proceed. But I assure you, after my many years of experienced, 99% of claimants proceed with their claim, despite a finding of no negligence by the MRP.... there's ways around this law. So the MRP system (which is a tort refirm attempt) is often ineffective. A few other States have a similar Panel system (Indiana comes to mind), to some degree more effective than LA.
Tort reform specifics are often misquoted/misrepresented by the media and many advocates, just like the McD's coffee incident has often been mischaracterized. Both "sides" do it, believe me. Opponents of tort reform would have you believe the horribly injured wouldn't be able to collect a dime....when in fact, only certain types of "damages" are ever limited in TR. Pain & Suffering ARE what is limited, NOT the actual medical bills, medical care needed or other financial losses (income, etc...) In a case with very serious injuries, requiring a lifetime of continued medical care and assistance, there's no cap on that amount. In tort reform, there's only a cap on the intangible costs, frequently called pain & suffering.
As we all just saw with the Casey Anthony verdict, we may not all agree on the verdict rendered, based on what we, the public have seen or heard, but it's our system of justice. Just like virtually anything, there's good and bad about it, and there's always going to be good and bad players in it too, on BOTH sides......
~Remember, this IMHO.
Natural selection at work
Originally Posted by Scott Harness
~ ~ > OFF ROAD WHORE <~ ~ 
