Reply #71: It's even worse...

[yurple]

It's bad enough that the rate of medical errors is as bad as it is. About 100,000 die in HOSPITALS ALONE as a result of them, each year! What makes it even worse is that this Administration, big business (including the Chamber of Commerce as one of the worst culprits), and many in Congress are trying to take away people's rights to seek recovery in courts when they are harmed by medical malpractice or unsafe drugs. It's all part of corporate America's efforts to limit liability of big companies. In the process, they are not only denying people's legal rights, but trying to deny the most severely injured people fair compensation. The methods vary. They try to "cap" compensation to malpractice victims. They try to "pre-empt" state law so people can't sue if the FDA approves a drug label (and we see how effective the FDA has been). They give legal immunity to drug companies (e.g., for defective pandemic flu vaccines, even if the manufacturer was reckless).

True, most doctors are hard-working, professional, and competent. And we should be grateful for them every day, as well as medical advances. Most medical malpractice is committed by a small number of doctors. But due to a lack of self-policing and lax disciplinary measures, they are allowed to repeat their behavior over and oover. But the fact that most doctors are good doesn't mean we should roll over and let corporate interests go after vulnerable patients when they are negligent.

Doctors have been fooled into thinking they pay high medical malpractice insurance because of lawsuits. It's simply not true. They are getting ripped off by insurance companies that charge rates based on regular investment cycles. It's a shame that doctors buy into the "tort reform" arguments. By doing so, they don't help themselves or the patients they work so hard to treat.