Monday, August 11, 2014

It's Not Just Healthcare That's Bankrupt--It's Our Legal System, Too

Yes, there is malpractice, but our current system is insane.


What can you say about a "healthcare" system in which 99% of all physicians will face a malpractice claim in their careers? According to Malpractice Risk According to Physician Specialty (The New England Journal of Medicine), "It was estimated that by the age of 65 years, 75% of physicians in low-risk specialties had faced a malpractice claim, as compared with 99% of physicians in high-risk specialties."

Longtime correspondent Ishabaka (M.D.) provides some context:

"A little legal education is necessary to understand malpractice:For a malpractice suit to be successful, there are five necessary things:

1. A duty to treat - there has to be an established doctor - patient relationship. A typical example would be someone who corners me at a party and asks me what I think is causing their abdominal pain. I give them my card, ask them to make an appointment for a check-up, they never do, and the pain turns out to be fatal cancer - in that case I had no duty to treat.


2. Failure to practice the standard of care - note - this does not mean the BEST care in the world - it means the average, or median standard of care.


3. A physician in the same specialty willing to testify that the doctor practiced below the standard of care - all States require this.


4. Causation - the substandard care has to have caused the patient's problem - again, this requires expert physician testimony.


5. Damages - if the substandard care causes no damage, there is no basis for a suit.


Now, I ask you - how can 99% of obstetrician gynecologists, neurosurgeons, emergency physicians, neonatologists (pediatricians who take care of premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit), and other high-risk specialists practice worse medicine than average? It's mathematically impossible.
By the way, in the back of law journals are ads for medical expert companies that promise they will get a doctor to testify to anything the lawyer wants.


Yes, there is malpractice, but our current system is insane."



I am not an attorney or a doctor, but it seems self-evident that our legal system enables "fishing expeditions" in search of a settlement by keeping the cost of "fishing" very low, the rewards high and no penalties for abuse of the law, by which I mean issuing unsubstantiated or fraudulent accusations in the hopes of triggering a nuisance settlement, i.e. it's cheaper and less stressful for the accused to pay the accuser a substantial sum to make him go away.

This practice is not unique to medicine. Anecdotally, I have heard from insiders in the insurance industry that there are people who make a good living claiming they were injured in department stores and retail outlets. The claims are bogus, but the grifters know our legal system encourages paying bribes to accusers to avoid the outrageous expense of a court trial.

Give me $10,000 and I'll go away. Do this ten times a year and it's a tidy income.

How can we defend a system where people are rewarded for spewing claims of damages in the hope that a few may stick or the falsely accused will pony up cash to avoid the horrendous expenses of defending oneself against baseless accusations in court?

Ishabaka (M.D.) has practiced medicine in both Canada and the U.S., and he reports that Canada's system for monitoring and dealing with malpractice is more effective at actually limiting incompetence in the system, and it does so without accusing essentially every physician of malpractice in an absurd "line up everyone for target practice" abuse of the legal system.

I do not have the expertise to validate this, and no doubt there are countless complexities to consider, but I find it difficult to believe that "ours is the best possible system," a blanket excuse issued in defense of both sickcare and our equally broken legal system.

I can anticipate that some within the legal profession will say that the low cost of making claims and accusations is worth the corrosive cost and stress of dealing with bogus claims and baseless accusations because it enables the poor and powerless to seek redress.
I find this argument mostly meritless based on two points:

1. How can anyone defend a system as fair, just and cost-effective when 99% of all physicians dealing with serious cases end up being accused of malpractice? It would take about 30 seconds to come up with a lower-cost, more just and effective system than what passes for "justice" in America.

2. The vast majority of poor people don't end up having their day in court because that day in court is as absurdly expensive as sickcare. "Justice" in America goes more or less to the highest bidder, outside of propaganda-type Hollywood films.Legal services are extremely expensive and mostly paid in cash, so only the wealthy can afford legal representation or advice.

We would be remiss not to mention the other factor in malpractice, which is unrealistic expectations of medical science and practitioners. Yes, there are some incompetent doctors who should no longer be allowed to practice medicine. But there are many other factors to consider, for example, those doctors who take on the most hopeless, difficult cases are the ones whose "track record" will appear less than stellar.

Yes, there are legitimate cases of malpractice, and legitimate claims that end up being argued in court. But any system that accuses 99% of its practitioners of gross incompetence is deeply flawed, rife with injustice and bloated by needless waste and stress.

It's not just our healthcare system that is bankrupt--so is our legal system.



Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy(Kindle, $9.95)(print, $20)
go to Kindle editionAre you like me? Ever since my first summer job decades ago, I've been chasing financial security. Not win-the-lottery, Bill Gates riches (although it would be nice!), but simply a feeling of financial control. I want my financial worries to if not disappear at least be manageable and comprehensible.


And like most of you, the way I've moved toward my goal has always hinged not just on having a job but a career.

You don't have to be a financial blogger to know that "having a job" and "having a career" do not mean the same thing today as they did when I first started swinging a hammer for a paycheck.

Even the basic concept "getting a job" has changed so radically that jobs--getting and keeping them, and the perceived lack of them--is the number one financial topic among friends, family and for that matter, complete strangers.

So I sat down and wrote this book: Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy.

It details everything I've verified about employment and the economy, and lays out an action plan to get you employed.

I am proud of this book. It is the culmination of both my practical work experiences and my financial analysis, and it is a useful, practical, and clarifying read.

Test drive the first section and see for yourself.     Kindle, $9.95     print, $20

"I want to thank you for creating your book Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy. It is rare to find a person with a mind like yours, who can take a holistic systems view of things without being captured by specific perspectives or agendas. Your contribution to humanity is much appreciated."
Laura Y.
Gordon Long and I discuss The New Nature of Work: Jobs, Occupations & Careers (25 minutes, YouTube) 



NOTE: Contributions/subscriptions are acknowledged in the order received. Your name and email remain confidential and will not be given to any other individual, company or agency.


Thank you, Robert T. ($5/month), for your supremely generous subscription to this site -- I am greatly honored by your steadfast support and readership.Thank you, Erle H. ($20), for your much-appreciated generous contribution to this site -- I am greatly honored by your steadfast support and readership.

Terms of Service

All content on this blog is provided by Trewe LLC for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.


Our Privacy Policy:


Correspondents' email is strictly confidential. This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by a third-party advertising network (Investing Channel) may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising; if you wish to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising, please go to Opt out of interest-based advertising (The Network Advertising Initiative). If you have other privacy concerns relating to advertisements, please contact advertisers directly. Websites and blog links on the site's blog roll are posted at my discretion.


PRIVACY NOTICE FOR EEA INDIVIDUALS


This section covers disclosures on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for users residing within EEA only. GDPR replaces the existing Directive 95/46/ec, and aims at harmonizing data protection laws in the EU that are fit for purpose in the digital age. The primary objective of the GDPR is to give citizens back control of their personal data. Please follow the link below to access InvestingChannel’s General Data Protection Notice. https://stg.media.investingchannel.com/gdpr-notice/


Notice of Compliance with The California Consumer Protection Act
This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by a third-party advertising network (Investing Channel) may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising. If you do not want any personal information that may be collected by third-party advertising to be sold, please follow the instructions on this page: Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information.


Regarding Cookies:


This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by third-party advertising networks such as Investing Channel may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising; if you wish to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising, please go to Opt out of interest-based advertising (The Network Advertising Initiative) If you have other privacy concerns relating to advertisements, please contact advertisers directly.


Our Commission Policy:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I also earn a commission on purchases of precious metals via BullionVault. I receive no fees or compensation for any other non-advertising links or content posted on my site.

  © Blogger templates Newspaper III by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP