Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Kudos to the Journal of the AMA for publishing results of a study belying one of the principal claims made by those championing the limitation of damages awards in medical-liability lawsuits, to wit: doctors are not fleeing states where medical liability is not statutorily capped. In fact, the number of doctors in every state rose between 1985 and 2001.
In Missouri, we recently elected a retarded governor. He ran on this issue (and every other lame-ass, Contract-on-America wet dream idea you've been hearing about since 1960). His billboards said: "MISSOURI IS LOSING ITS DOCTORS!! AAAAAHHHH! AAAAAHHHH! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! OR AT THE VERY LEAST, VOTE REPUBLICAN!"
"But Mr. Blunt," I said, "what about the Free Market"?
A companion piece showed that doctors are partly to blame for increasing their own exposure to medical-malpractice liability. Ironically, out of fear of being sued, doctors responding to a survey stated that they practiced "defensive medicine," subjecting their patients to costly treatment that was not medically necessary, and that, in some case, was actually harmful to the patient. The AMA wants to use this as another reason to cap punitive damages in medical-malpractice cases. But aren't the doctors still responsible for their medical decisions? This is basically saying "My fear of lawsuits makes me a bad doctor." I don't buy it.
I know what you're saying: "Now, hold on a minute, Succotash. You mean to tell me that the things doctors do might have something to do with how often and how successfully they get sued by their patients?"
I know, it sounds CRAZy, but put in the ol' crock pot for a while, let it simmer, and see what you think of it after a few hours on low heat.
In Missouri, we recently elected a retarded governor. He ran on this issue (and every other lame-ass, Contract-on-America wet dream idea you've been hearing about since 1960). His billboards said: "MISSOURI IS LOSING ITS DOCTORS!! AAAAAHHHH! AAAAAHHHH! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! OR AT THE VERY LEAST, VOTE REPUBLICAN!"
"But Mr. Blunt," I said, "what about the Free Market"?
A companion piece showed that doctors are partly to blame for increasing their own exposure to medical-malpractice liability. Ironically, out of fear of being sued, doctors responding to a survey stated that they practiced "defensive medicine," subjecting their patients to costly treatment that was not medically necessary, and that, in some case, was actually harmful to the patient. The AMA wants to use this as another reason to cap punitive damages in medical-malpractice cases. But aren't the doctors still responsible for their medical decisions? This is basically saying "My fear of lawsuits makes me a bad doctor." I don't buy it.
I know what you're saying: "Now, hold on a minute, Succotash. You mean to tell me that the things doctors do might have something to do with how often and how successfully they get sued by their patients?"
I know, it sounds CRAZy, but put in the ol' crock pot for a while, let it simmer, and see what you think of it after a few hours on low heat.
