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December 27, 2006

Drugs-for-Sex and Naked Docs

News_23 Opinion: An affidavit of [lawsuit] merit usually costs from $500 to $5,000 and prevents the poor from launching med mal 'suits. Read [Muskogee Phoenix]

We mentioned the Okla. Supreme Court striking this down, here.

Doc in drugs-for-sex scandal, now faces rape charges Read [WMDT-TV]

Get the dirt on docs in Arizona, here.

? Shouldn't every state have such transparency for patients?

December 26, 2006

'Judical Hellholes'

Residents of South Florida, Cook County, and South Texas: You all live in Judicial Hellholes. At least that's what the American Tort Reform Association says.
Map
"Judicial Hellholes are places where judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an unfair and unbalanced manner, generally against defendants, in civil lawsuits."

Check it out, here.

Anyone think differently?

December 22, 2006

Action Grandmas and Lawsuit Experts Denied

GrandmaWe said, "don't resuscitate grandma." So now we're gonna sue. Read [Kaiser Network]
Who's at fault, here?

Pill pushing doc's patient overdoses, murder charges filed Read [Las Vegas Now]

'Soothing' ointment chafes grandma, payday ensues Read [Roanoke Times]

Chemo overload in San Mateo Read [San Mateo Daily Journal]

Oklahoma Supreme Court says experts don't need to sign off on med mal suits Read [Tulsa World]

 

December 18, 2006

Docs Flee, Lawyers Slacking, and a Lost Kidney

Eli Lily hid side-effects info, kept pushing schizo drug Read [Wilmington Star News]

News_22 Adios cowboys! A third of Wyoming docs plan to flee Read [Casper Star Tribune]

VA and health care behemoth Kaiser pushing docs to web for diagnosis info, options Read [Kansas City Star]

Bad Apples: North Dakota rebuking record number of state's lawyers Read [Bismark Tribune]

Patient gets screwed out of friend's kidney, dies, and CAN'T sue Read [New York Sun]

December 15, 2006

Blogging About MedMal Blogs

Some random musings we found while perusing the wide world o' blogs

Aggravated DocSurg says: "Whenever I see an award in a malpractice case that is this high [he's talking about $8.25 million in Fort Myers], I remind myself to continuously express to patients one of the basic tenets of life: Bad things happen. Sometimes, they happen despite the best efforts of everyone involved. Surgery, like life, offers no guarantees."

Callous? The truth?

GruntDoc keyed us into this interesting legal move [via Overlawyered]. Seems the the former president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Kim Presbrey, has started a new malpractice insurance company, Doctors Direct, focusing on neurosurgeons and heart surgeons.

Get in where the getting is good.

And lastly, we've been meaning to mention a site under the name, My Surgery Nightmare. Is the proof in the wide-eyes?

Eyes

Have some favorite blogs? Drop us a line, here.

PS Check out the 2006 Medical Weblog Awards. Lots of links to cool med-related sites, from docs to patients and everything in between. You can even nominate ThisMakesMeSick for "Best Health Policies/Ethics Weblog." (Insert shameless plug)

December 14, 2006

What Want To Hear From YOU!

Shout_2 We got this blog started for the simple fact that things were making us sick.

And the best tales of sketchy lawyers, slack docs, lying patients and greedy insurance moguls have come from readers like you who stop by  ThisMakesMeSick.

Chime in, here!

In case you need some prodding, a greatest hits collection:

Stay in Hospital Takes Wicked Turn

Hospitals Shut Door On Doc's Charity Work

Grandma's Fears From the ICU

Double Dipping Medical Directors


Dr. Choi Had No Idea What He Was Doing

 

December 12, 2006

Pad Se Sue

Padseew From a scrappy news service in Thailand comes this little gem for peace in medicine:

"Both doctors and patients must also be assured that a safeguard will be put in place to prevent frivolous claims for compensation. For example, a satisfactory list of criteria must be established before a medical malpractice lawsuit can be initiated." Read [Nation Multimedia]

Any volunteers want a seat at the roundtable to set these ground rules?

December 11, 2006

Dr. Sketchy McSketchson

Etch Dr. King is turning into a great source of lawsuit madness. We talked about him keeping his past hidden and filing false applications over the last week.

Now comes some more news that you just can' t make up. Drum roll, please.

"The former Putnam General Hospital doctor at the center of more than 100 medical malpractice lawsuits testified Friday that he has no fixed address, has not worked since early November and lost his tax records when his accountant's office burned down.

Christopher Wallace Martin, the osteopath previously known as John A. King, also told Putnam County Circuit Judge Ed Eagloski that he has set up more than a dozen corporations, trusts and other legal entities since 1999. He then assigned them such assets as his Volvo autos and the $400,000 house he bought while at Putnam General."

Paging Dr. Sketchy McSketchson. There's more! Read [Herald Leader]

Lawsuits and More Lawsuits

New precedent? Man sues doc of man who ran over him with a car Read [AMA]

Hmmm ... "Lawyers will testify against each other more readily than doctors. ...  Lawyers understand that it's just business. ... They can go to court against someone and then shake their hand. Doctors don't have that experience, and they're scared of the legal system." Read [Law.com]

Should a doc who has been sued 100 times have to tell his new patients about his sordid past? Read [Birmingham News] We told you about his bogus doc application here

December 06, 2006

Docs Phoning It In

Phone "Prescribing antibiotics has become so common that many doctors literally are just phoning it in ... Researchers found that 40% of people who filled an antibiotic prescription had not seen a doctor in at least a month."

Flashing liability alarms are just the tip of the iceberg, no? But we can kind of see where docs are coming from; our mom pushed antibiotics like smarties. Read [USA Today]

About TMMS

  • ThisMakesMeSick answers renowned medical inventor Dr. Robert Fischell's wish to spread awareness (and outrage!) about the medical liability crisis that's ruining our healthcare system.

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What makes you sick?

  • We want to hear your thoughts and personal stories.

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    • Fretted over rising malpractice premiums?

    • Signed a truly unbelievable medical liability waiver?

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You don't say...

  • "This election destroyed a popular Karl Rove myth. The truth is that trial attorneys are winning, attacks on trial attorneys are backfiring and opponents of the civil justice system are losing."

    The CEO of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America said.

  • "We have discovered that virtually all patients are willing to sign a contract in which they agree not to sue their doctors on frivolous grounds."

    Jeffrey Segal, M.D, a board-certified neurosurgeon and the founder and president of Medical Justice Services, Inc., said.

  • "Low-risk obstetrics has been done here for 60 years, but not anymore."

    Carl Hanson, chief operating officer of the county-run Minidoka Memorial Hospital in southern Idaho hospital's, explained as they get out of the baby business. Read

  • "I have children, and I don't know where they're at."

    Rosalinda Elison, a former patient at the UC Irvine Medical Center’s fertility clinic, said after learning that that her eggs and embryos had been stolen and implanted in another woman who then gave birth to twins.

    Read more You Don't Say, here.

Crisis by numbers:

  • $4.6 million

    New York state grants available to expand the use of electronic medical records. Such initiatives have been hailed nationally as a way to cut medication errors, save money and improve patient safety. LINK

  • $700,000

    Amount raised by Fairness and Accountability in Insurance Reform to oppose malpractice limits in Arizona. LINK

  • $450,000

    Amount the Arizona Medical Association says Arizonans for Access to Health Care has raised to decide whether to push for montetary limits on lawsuits. LINK

    Read more CRISIS BY NUMBERS, here.

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