THE END RESULT OF A LAWSUIT
Short, but true story...
An ER doctor who had been happily practicing medicine for many years had his first lawsuit brought against him. From what I was told by his friend, this ER doctor absolutely loved his profession and helping people. Concerning this lawsuit, he did not make any medical error, showed no negligence, and performed his job to the best of his abilities. His insurance company would have easily settled out of court, which to all doctors is like a big slap in the face. His medical record would have been tarnished and he felt like it would be admitting fault, which he was morally against, so he fought the case in court to prove himself right. The court case lasted a couple years, he was humiliated in court b/c that is what a good lawyer will do, spent thousands of his own money, and eventually won the case. You would think that this win would boost his confidence, but instead, he felt betrayed by the patient and the patient's family, abused by the court system, and worried about a another possible future lawsuit. This doctor then quit the practice of medicine and refused to keep his job, despite the begging of his employer.
My congrats to those patients and lawyers out there destroying American medicine. You're doing a fine job of wasing our time and talent.
An ER doctor who had been happily practicing medicine for many years had his first lawsuit brought against him. From what I was told by his friend, this ER doctor absolutely loved his profession and helping people. Concerning this lawsuit, he did not make any medical error, showed no negligence, and performed his job to the best of his abilities. His insurance company would have easily settled out of court, which to all doctors is like a big slap in the face. His medical record would have been tarnished and he felt like it would be admitting fault, which he was morally against, so he fought the case in court to prove himself right. The court case lasted a couple years, he was humiliated in court b/c that is what a good lawyer will do, spent thousands of his own money, and eventually won the case. You would think that this win would boost his confidence, but instead, he felt betrayed by the patient and the patient's family, abused by the court system, and worried about a another possible future lawsuit. This doctor then quit the practice of medicine and refused to keep his job, despite the begging of his employer.
My congrats to those patients and lawyers out there destroying American medicine. You're doing a fine job of wasing our time and talent.
posted by Caduceus at Tuesday, October 10, 2006
10 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Yep, that stuff is scary. People always tease me about overkill on my paperwork, but I must admit that when I am charting, I'm always "mindful" of what it would read like later in a court of law, if ya know what I mean...
i know exactly how that poor doctor feels. i use to be just like him. big hospital practice, worked seven days a week, went to every hospital my patients showed up in. that was until my first malpractice suit. after that, i dumped all 5 of my hospitals, no more beeper, only work 4 days a week in an office and scheming of ways to entirely get out of medicine all together.
T.Vade
This sad story reads just like mine. i cant wait to get out of this hostile profession. its under attack by so many things. i scheme and dream of my non medical bussisness will soon take off and i can leave this mess behind forever.
T.Vade
Kind of sucks for the provider, does it not, when they find themselves as the defendant in junk litigation cases? What I am about to state should be obvious, but apparently goes over the head of clinical medicine. Just because a dirtbag litigant/patient claims a particular history does not mean that the history was the cause of whatever it is that you can diagnose. Think about this the next time you get some whiny litigant/patient claiming that they were thrown to and fro in some auto accident and now have neck pain (while of course denying any prior complaints - a claim that you can not verify). Think about the lack of science in relying upon the word (only) of the litigant and parotting their history as the cause (i.e. post-traumatic neck strain/sprain after MVA when the only thing that you can actaually diagnose is neck sprain/strain) as a build-up to rape some innocent third party in a junk science PI case. That poor sap, in the next case, might be you when the next litigant, exhibiting the same mentality, claims an iatragenic injury.
I invite the doctor to promote a statute extending the benefits of tort liability to the self-dealing lawyer, now totally immune from any accountability to adverse third parties. Because the lawsuit is a product, dangerous in ordinary use, designed to injure the innocent defendant, let the doctrines of strict liability apply to the lawsuit.
Funny how easy it is to tell when the lawyers out there write comments. I knew medical jargon was like a different language, but I can't even begin to understand the jumble of words coming from my more "legally inclined" cohorts.
In medicine we learn to speak in basic terms to our patients. Please, if you are a lawyer and want to post an insulting comment, just put in in plain English for me.
Plus, it appears obvious that some of these comments made agains me have possibly been made by some young law professionals just out of school. Are you trying to impress with your legal jargon? Kind of reminds me of a bar scene in the movie "Good Will Hunting". We remember how that went don't we?
Thank you so much for this blog. I had a suit 5 years ago and although I was dropped, I have been so depressed since. I know I will only be able to practice a few more years before I give in because I am so worried all of the time now. I always have loved my job and loved patients and I am relieved that others have posted their thoughts on this.
cnwH9I You have a talant! Write more!
n7XlKP The best blog you have!
Post a Comment
<< Home