October 10, 2006

News Roundup

News_18 Extra! Extra!  Docs Say they'll Be in Short Supply Come 2020 Read [BYU NewsNet]

Wisconsin BS? Law: Adult Kids Can't Sue For Malpractice If Parent Dies Read [WTMJ-TV]

Forget Suing Docs, The Mold That Nearly Snuffed Me Was The Builder's Fault Read [Orlando Sun-Sentinel]

Frankenstein Cometh: Grandma Claims Doc Left Bolt in Her Neck Read [Roanoke Times]

Surprise, Surprise: Tort Reform Not Keeping Docs in Land O' Lincoln Read [Courier News]

Continue reading "News Roundup" »

October 09, 2006

AOL Big Hated ER Wait, Opened His Own

Redi We never knew it, but it seems the new RediClinics—those one-stop med shops popping up in Wal-Marts—were started after former AOL chairman Stephen Case got fed up waiting with his daughter in the ER.

"The free maket lives," capitalist lovers are shouting. But since most of us lack the dollars to open up our own shop—or run for mayor of New York on our own dime (sorry, we digress—how about we clean up the liability mess and make ER-work attractive to docs?  And maybe ERs won't be such a losing proposition for hospitals. And then maybe it won't take 17 hours to get looked at.

Thoughts on the matter?

June 05, 2006

"I don't have it in for St. Joe's"

But Dr. Terry Phillips is suing the hospital in Tacoma, Washington—a hospital where he used to work. The anesthesiologist says hospital staff failed to perform emergency surgery to save his wife. According to the lawsuit, Patty Phillips went to the hospital's ER with extreme abdominal pain. Her husband said he was certain it indicated a serious intestinal problem that required immediate surgery. Instead, she spent hours in a bed without standard monitoring machines in a storage area outside the hospital's radiology unit before she died. An autopsy revealed she had 20 inches of damaged intestine. Read [Washington Post]

May 03, 2006

ER Millionaires and Lap Dances On Call

1) News_2_1_1_1_1_1_1Since there's a new study saying most U.S. Hospital ERs Lack Specialists--compensation and legal liability weigh heavily--Read [Forbes], seemed the perfect time to find someone throwing truckloads full of cash at the problem. Sometimes, it's just too easy. One obviously tony West Palm Beach hospital is overcoming the shortage of brain surgeons, particularly those willing to work the ER: they make them millionaire$. Oh, and they cover their malpractice insurance. We're in the wrong game.Read [Palm Beach Post]

2) Now onto the senior circuit. The National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform said that proposed med mal caps up in the Senate would prompt attorneys not to take cases filed by families of nursing home patients who die because of neglect or abuse. "When total compensation is limited to $250,000, it is often barely enough to cover the cost of bringing a lawsuit against one of the large national corporations that own most of our nursing homes." We're certain senators' offices on capital hill will be getting calls. Read [Kaiser Network]

3) Ah, that coveted second chance. A pediatrician in West Virginia whose medical license was restricted because of allegations of improper sexual conduct at Welch Community Hospital—just masturbating in an examination room in front of a 15-year-old girl, getting a lap dance from a hospital employee and having oral sex with a member of the hospital staff in a car in the parking lot—is suing the heads of the hospital and a state agency for blocking his privilege to practice there again. Read [Charleston Daily Mail]

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.

    Learn more...

What makes you sick?

  • We want to hear your thoughts and personal stories.

    Have you...

    • Fretted over rising malpractice premiums?

    • Signed a truly unbelievable medical liability waiver?

    • Faced a frivolous lawsuit?

    • Dealt with a doctor or a hospital who wouldn't take responsiblity for their actions?

    • Practiced defensive medicine?

    Let us know about groups and individuals offering real solutions. And be sure to add your comments to our posts.

    Contact the editor of ThisMakesMeSick.

    Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

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.

Powered by TypePad
Member since 09/2005