This Makes Me Sick

You Don't Say...

"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. And the hospital's response? Read more here

"We may have to wind up raising... money to provide certain levels of care, staffing in certain specialities."

A member of the Palm Beach County Medical Care Commission noted an increase in public funding may be required to deal with a shortage of physicians willing to be on-call for emergency rooms. The reason: malpractice insurance burdens and unpaid bills.

"We feel there needs to be an end and a conclusion to this litigation."

Byron Beam, the medical center’s lead attorney, responded to this and the 28 other cases similar to Ms. Elison’s. However, he added that any settlement must take into account that the misdeeds occurred as long as 18 years ago.

"The docs can't stay up all night to read them."

Maryland surgeon Karl Riggle says of handling the 20 CAT scans performed between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. at Washington County Hospital. He calls it “defensive medicine” and adds that outside hands have been brought in to interpret the overflow and to relieve the weary docs.

"We don’t know what people are filing [law]suits about and we can’t learn from them. We could see if there is a trend, or find ways to correct our own behavior, stemming the tide of lawsuits."

Dr. Thomas Clairmont has asked the New Hampshire Board of Medicine to help physicians to learn more about medical malpractice lawsuits in the state.

"We're prevented from telling one another what we know out of fear, quite frankly, of being sued."

One New Jersey hospital administrator's explanation of why a nurse who admitted killing 42 people in hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania was routinely fired, but rehired because none of the hospitals would give him a bad reference.

""There are a lot of hospitals in New York that are... operating with enough cash to maybe make the next payroll."

Liz Sweeney, the director of health care ratings at Standard & Poor's, said. Hospital trade groups cite increased medical malpractice premiums as one reason for the dire financial straits.

"All cost categories that we face have gone up dramatically. Just take a look at... malpractice insurance."

East Carolina University Chancellor Steve Ballard explained why tuition at the 16 University of North Carolina campuses will rise by up to 10 percent a year for the next three years.

"I may be the only midwife left with privileges at DeKalb Medical Center."

Karline Mitchell, a certified nurse-midwife near Atlanta blames rising malpractice insurance rates.

"People were dying, and I was the only doctor on the tarmac."

Dr. Mark N. Perlmutter was ready to work at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport after Hurricane Katrina until a FEMA official told him to leave, because he wasn’t registered with the agency and worries that FEMA might get sued.

"For us it was the difference between staying in practice and going out of business."

Dr. Sam Akman of OB/GYN Specialists of Maryland explaining why the group left their longtime hospital and joined a Catholic health center. The malpractice insurance was cheaper. Where will their old patients go for treatment?

"Physicians are saying, 'I'll stop taking trauma calls."

Tom Curry, CEO of the Washington State Medical Association, explaining doctors' liability fears.