This Makes Me Sick

Top Gunners Teach Docs How To Act

F-14 Flyboys Teach Docs How To Keep Cool; Avoid Medical Accidents Read [New York Times]

Family: Docs Botched Op and Our Lawyers Sabotaged The Case Read [Christian Newswire]

Reporter's Discretion: "Court documents show the [malpractice] trial most likely would have evolved into a contest of competing medical experts." Thankfully the parties in this Ohio case settled out of court. Read [Cleveland Plain Dealer

Life of Crime: Doc Booted By California Medical Board Becomes Serial Plantiff; Concocts Faux-Picasso Heist Read [CNN.COM]

Real Chinese Guinea Pigs

Back in college, we had friends hard up for cash who donated plasma until the veins went dry or slept in tanks while listening to East German fitness tapes in the name of "research." So it caught our eye when we learned that some patients in China are getting suckered into unnecssary heart and lung transplants so docs can get hands-on-training. There must be some $$ involved.  Too bad one of the suckers just died. Read [Epoch Times]

Sketchy Ethics 101

Circuit Judge Lloyd Cueto is running for office. So, he slaps together some flyers at Kinko's. (Karl Rove will tell ya' that ya' need photos with those slogans. ) So he plops in a shot of his old pal Joseph Schallert, M.D. Sounds like good ol' democracy in action. But noooooooooooo. It's dirty. Dr. Schallert happens to be facing a malpractice lawsuit in Cueto's court. Nice that Doc had time to ham it up for the camera in between getting squeezed on the stand.   Read [Madison Record]

Anyone want to share some other legal shenanigans? EMAIL US

Baghdad, U.S.A and more

Coca-Cola, Big Macs, iPods . . . World, you love America's wares. One not so pretty export: medical malpractice claims popping up in the camps housing laborers building the massive US embassy in Baghdad. Is it our lawsuit-happy climate? The lack of accountability? Read [Indymedia]

MD Love Brings Down Med Mal Insurance Rates Read [The Day]

One in 50 Heart Attacks Go Unnoticed Read; One Man's Story Read [USA Today]

 

Dirty Campaign $$$

Hot Damn: Texas-sized trial lawyer kicks Dem. Gov. hopeful $2.5 million. Is that legal? Is he insane? This is wrong for all kinds of reasons. The GOP-incumbent called  Counselor O'Quinn a "trial lawyer sugar daddy." Read [KWTX-TV]

This got TMMS to thinking about dirty, er, legal and clean dollars flowing into elections all-time.

Batting lead off, a consortium of docs and hospitals making campaign donations to the tune of: 
$36,863,662
65% of the booty is going to the GOP with getting med mal caps at the top of the wish list.

Batting cleanup, a well-schooled crew of lawyers, donating an abusurd amount:  $89,041,046
Dems get 69%

Other Big Individual Hitters:
The Assn. of Trial Lawyers: $26,599,956.
American Medical Assn: $23,139,274
American Hospital Assn: $12,978,544

This is nuts. A system must be screwed up if docs and lawyers will donate so much cash to preserve, or change, the way liability issues are handled.

For more election season money fun, go here.

Anyone think publicly financed elections would help? Chime in.

Med Boards Hide Info and Jersey Helps Docs

Garden Variety Solution? New Jersey cutting check for docs' insurance bills Read [Newark Star-Ledger]

Note: Docs and lawyers amongst folks paying into the state fund. Good sense? BS? Chime in, here.

www.CrappyDocInfo.com: Report says Michigan's state medical website blows, as do most states. They look pretty, but provide scant info on doc's disciplinary records. Check your state's grade, here. This should be an easy thing to put up, no? Come on, people.

The Computer Age, Free Clinic Love, and A Quack Prison Nurse

Dr. Whiz Kid: Ya' See, We Can Keep Medical Records On These Computer Doodads Read [Chicago Sun-Times]

Retired Docs Taken From Golf Courses; Staffing Free Med Clinics With Nary a Liability Fear Read [Savannah Morning News]

Random Thought ... Why Aren't Malpractice Settlements Public Knowledge?  EMAIL US

Trial Lawyer Love: Those Insurance Companies Are Cheating Docs Read [Yahoo! Finance]

Jail Break: Prison Nurse Won't Give Meds Read [La Crosse Tribune]

News and Views From the US

• Med Mal Insurer Gets Docked Big $$ For Screwing Docs Read [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
• Louisiana Judges On $500K Med Mal Cap: It's Chump Change Circa '75  Read [The Times-Picayune]
• 'Suit: Wal-Mart Printed Iowan's Medical History On Back-to-School Shopping Lists. Notebooks? Check. Monthly Rx of Valium? Check. Read [WHO-TV]

 

Comment City

Thought we'd key you in on a few of the recent reactions by readers like you to the spicy content here at TMMS.

Dr. Mary Johnson wrote:
"You are not going to "fix" anything about the malpractice tort system in this country until something is done to "fix" medical peer review . . . and to REALLY protect medical whistle-blowers. The AMA has had its head in the sand on this issue for years"

Resident pro-med mal capper, Donna Baver Rovito, explains why the GOPers running Congress and the White House can't tackle the liability crisis.

What makes you sick? Let's hear it.

America's Skin Shall Shine

And on this day, we declare that America's acne begone. Good riddance, psoriasis. We will be a land of skin doctors!

Why?

Because more and more med students are opting to become dermatologists, leaving thirsty specialties behind. The pay is better and other pursuits— family practice, internal medicine and obstetrics—live in the land of high malpractice rates, long hours and health insurance woes. Get in where you fit in.

Read [Kaiser Network]