Thursday, November 22, 2007

Frivolity Rears Its Ugly Head

Here we go again. This time it's Mitt. AP (11.20.07):
"'I believe we have to enact federal caps on non-economic and punitive damages related to malpractice,' Romney said. 'These lottery-sized awards and frivolous lawsuits may enrich the trial lawyers but they put a heavy burden on doctors, hospitals and, of course through defensive medicine, they put a burden on the entire health care system.'"

Romney: Cap Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

OK are you ready for it? Here it comes. "'We've got to rein in the incessant cost of medical liability,' he said."

Even though study after study have come to the same conclusion: "the medical malpractice 'crisis' is mostly an invention of insurance companies and their friends in Congress."

So you shouldn't be allowed to ask for punitive damages for frivolity like this? LATimes (11.22.07):

"The case of actor Dennis Quaid's newborn twins, who were reportedly given 1,000 times the intended dosage of a blood thinner at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, underscores one of the biggest problems facing the healthcare industry: medication errors.

At least 1.5 million Americans a year are injured after receiving the wrong medication or the incorrect dose, according to the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academies of Science. Such incidents have more than doubled in the last decade."

Hospital drug errors far from uncommon

Not like the mistakes were unavoidable. "The errors are made when pharmacists stock the drugs improperly, nurses don't double-check to make sure they are dispensing the proper medication or doctors' bad handwriting results in the wrong drug being administered, among other causes."

"The events over the last few days at Cedars-Sinai, and a case in Indiana last year in which three babies died after receiving an overdose of the same drug, offer a vivid illustration of the problems hospitals face. In both cases, nurses mistakenly administered a concentration of heparin 1,000 times higher than intended, giving the patients a dose with a concentration of 10,000 units per milliliter instead of the correct dosage of 10 units per milliliter."

You really want to rein in malpractice premiums? Let's start with crap like this.

Then there's always this novel concept: "these anesthesiologists focused on improving patient safety. Their theory: Less harm to patients would mean fewer lawsuits."

Fuckin' duh, eh folks?

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3 Comments:

Blogger Peter Schwarz said...

Right on. Right on.

5:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting side note (that everyone already knows): In a previous life, I sold Health Insurance and during training we were told that "Remember, Insurance Companies are in the business of NOT paying claims". A single payer system is better then a reluctant payer system.
pt.

10:20 AM  
Blogger knobboy said...

Ahh yes. The Alligator and the Boxing Glove strategies. Health, property, casualty, liabilty. They all do it.

We're good neighbors! You're in good hands! You don't need a lawyer!

Trust us.

7:10 AM  

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