A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
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Re: A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
#2>> In the federal government and in states, there are frequent proposals to limit medical liability, but there have been no serious efforts to eliminate medical malpractice rights altogether.
Damb right. Take away a patient's right to hold doctors accountable and things go south very quickly, at least in a for-profit systems.
>>But American doctors often rail against the country’s medical malpractice system, which they say forces them to order unnecessary tests and procedures to protect themselves if a patient sues them.
The patient can only sue if the patient has been harmed. They aren't performing the extra tests in case just wakes up and decides to sue them. They perform the extra tests so that they don't miss something that could harm the patient so badly that they sue.
Doctors also forget that, again only in the US system, patients often must sue. A harm caused by malpractice isn't always covered by insurance. Patients need to find the money somewhere. Or if an insurance company does cover, the insurance company will then sue the malpracticing doctor (google "subrogation").
A few years ago several states had liability caps ready to become law (iirc $250k). Then a young woman lost both her breasts after a mixup in test results caused her doctor to recommend a double mastectomy. But at least she could still function relatively normally and the injury was not a financial burden. Imagine the costs associated with a 20yo confined to a wheelchair for the next 60+ years. Setting aside medical expenses, 250k buys you maybe four or five converted vans. While some cases are rightly suspect, many of the multi-million dollar settlements really do get spent on legitimate costs.
Re: A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
#3>> In the federal government and in states, there are frequent proposals to limit medical liability, but there have been no serious efforts to eliminate medical malpractice rights altogether. Damb right. Take away a patient's right to hold doctors accountable and things go south very quickly, at least in a for-profit systems. >>But American doctors often rail against the country’s medical malpractice system, which th…
As someone that lost a close family member because a doctor did not do one of those extra tests I think they are underrated. Cost vs benefit on this stuff is hard to get right, but lives are often on the line.
Re: A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
#4[deleted]
Re: A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
#5>> In the federal government and in states, there are frequent proposals to limit medical liability, but there have been no serious efforts to eliminate medical malpractice rights altogether. Damb right. Take away a patient's right to hold doctors accountable and things go south very quickly, at least in a for-profit systems. >>But American doctors often rail against the country’s medical malpractice system, which th…
> Damb right. Take away a patient's right to hold doctors accountable and things go south very quickly, at least in a for-profit systems.
The study cited in the article would seem to rebut that quite vigorously.
FTA: > They found that the possibility of a lawsuit increased the intensity of health care that patients received in the hospital by about 5 percent — and that those patients who got the extra care were no better off.
Re: A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
#6>> In the federal government and in states, there are frequent proposals to limit medical liability, but there have been no serious efforts to eliminate medical malpractice rights altogether. Damb right. Take away a patient's right to hold doctors accountable and things go south very quickly, at least in a for-profit systems. >>But American doctors often rail against the country’s medical malpractice system, which th…
A patient can sue for any reason. They can be wrong and sue.
It's then up to the physican to pay costs for legal defense (i.e. medical malpractice insurance). If the patient is wrong, then the physican can counter-sue. This whole dance is very expensive and, worse, time consuming (which, for a doc, is the ultimate resource). This cost ends up on the patient ad the doc must raise prices to account for the new insurance.
Re: A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
#7>> In the federal government and in states, there are frequent proposals to limit medical liability, but there have been no serious efforts to eliminate medical malpractice rights altogether. Damb right. Take away a patient's right to hold doctors accountable and things go south very quickly, at least in a for-profit systems. >>But American doctors often rail against the country’s medical malpractice system, which th…
This is where a universal healthcare system takes some causes for inefficiency out of the system, reducing at least one source of major need for lawsuits - the need to fund future medical care.
Re: A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
#8>> In the federal government and in states, there are frequent proposals to limit medical liability, but there have been no serious efforts to eliminate medical malpractice rights altogether. Damb right. Take away a patient's right to hold doctors accountable and things go south very quickly, at least in a for-profit systems. >>But American doctors often rail against the country’s medical malpractice system, which th…
> Damb right. Take away a patient's right to hold doctors accountable and things go south very quickly, at least in a for-profit systems. The study cited in the article would seem to rebut that quite vigorously. FTA: > They found that the possibility of a lawsuit increased the intensity of health care that patients received in the hospital by about 5 percent — and that those patients who got the extra care were no be…
Because the test only measured changes in the decisions by doctors. The doctors all work within the same medical culture, one built on the threat of lawsuits. Try telling an insurance company that they cannot be sued. See how many fewer tests get authorized when the actuaries can veto a doctor's recommendation without incurring liability.
Re: A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
#9>> In the federal government and in states, there are frequent proposals to limit medical liability, but there have been no serious efforts to eliminate medical malpractice rights altogether. Damb right. Take away a patient's right to hold doctors accountable and things go south very quickly, at least in a for-profit systems. >>But American doctors often rail against the country’s medical malpractice system, which th…
As someone that lost a close family member because a doctor did not do one of those extra tests I think they are underrated. Cost vs benefit on this stuff is hard to get right, but lives are often on the line.
My condolences. But as someone whose father lost a kidney and suffered much un-needed anxiety and pain because of a false positive on one of those "extra tests" (and the general culture of treat-until-lawsuit-proof), I humbly request we meet in the middle.
Re: A Fear of Lawsuits Really Does Seem to Result in Extra Medical Tests
#10Wait until the NY Times finds out that c-sections have greatly increased because of high-dollar awards like the one that made John Edwards (yes the politician) a millionaire...