Medical Malpractice

Why do people think we should do away with medical malpractice?

1) Doctors make mistakes all the time. Should they not be held accountable for their mistakes? 2) Malpractice cases are RARELY won by patients. 3) Malpractice cases account for a very small percentage of overall health care costs in this country. Why do people look at Malpractice cases as being the problem with medical care in this country? Do you think the health care lobbyists in Washington, D.C. have something to do with this? Do you think that Doctors should not be held accountable for the mistakes that they make?

Public Comments

1. The problem with Medical Malpractice in this country is the shady lawyers who collect 40% or more of the verdict.
2. All doctors are human and make mistakes. But I think there should still be the possibility of suing them if the error was so basic as to be inexcusable or done willfully. I do believe that there are too many malpractice suits from people who are just unhappy with the outcome. Medical science is not an exact science yet, so some things are not going to come out the way we want them to. I do believe that one of the reasons this happens is that there are too many lawyers. I think we ought to have a ten-year moratorium on new lawyers' degrees. Most people go into law with the expectation of making a whole lot of money, and when they find out the field is totally glutted, they turn to things like malpractice and car accidents to pay the bills. I do think lobbyists have a lot to do with it. They are for insurance companies who will do anything to avoid paying out anything for any reason. The fact that their corporate profits are sky-high in spite of malpractice payments doesn't bother them at all. They just want to save that extra buck. And since they pass this cost on to doctors, doctors also would like to get rid of it. I believe the rates are unreasonably high compared to the amounts paid out. Also, if insurance companies would stop paying settlements and force people to trial, there would probably be a lot less that made it into court, since the plaintiffs would know they will be responsible for all court costs if they lose.
3. Bill H, if the doctor operated on your child and left some gauze inside you would be the first inline at that lawyers office. You think 30-40% is too much for a lawyers fee, why not instead complain about the cost of every office visit instead. Additionally most of these lawyers charge 0 fees upfront. Lawsuits last for years, and during this time the lawyer gets nothing, he has to feed his kids and family. For like 2 years of work, he doesnt even get that much, just because he gets it in a lump sum doesnt some how undermine the work the lawyer does.
4. A great deal of it has to do with the insurance premiums which doctors have to pay. Because this country is so sue happy, doctors premiums are getting higher and higher and many of them do not find it is worth the trouble in some areas of medicine where the risk is higher. In addition, some of the juries have awarded such high damages to patients that it causes the insurance industry to re-access their options and their costs of medical malpractice insurance. But when you consider that some doctors are so careless as to leave instruments and sponges in their patients when they close them up, it is no wonder they are sued.