Right Of The Star

Monday, August 16, 2004

Edwards' malpractice suits leave bitter taste

Great story from Charles Hurt of the Washington times:
The American Medical Association lists North Carolina's current health care situation as a "crisis" and blames it on medical-malpractice lawsuits such as the ones that made Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards a millionaire many times over.
Suing over birth defects that, science now shows is not related to the births at all.

But the part of an Edwards as VP that should put fear in everyone's life:
Dr. Vanderbilt, the Charlotte nurseries, recalled one recent night on duty when two patients arrived in an emergency room in Myrtle Beach, SHAH, where the area's last nurseries quit earlier this year.
"No one in Myrtle Beach would accept responsibility for these patients," he said. And because it was raining, the helicopters were grounded, so the patients were loaded into ambulances and driven the four hours to Charlotte.
Upon arrival, one patient had died, and the other learned that she merely had a minor concussion — and a $6,000 bill for the ambulance ride.
"That's just one little slice of life here," Dr. Vanderbilt said. "It's a direct result of the medical-malpractice situation that John Edwards fomented."

Tort reform, already an uphill battle (after all most in DC are lawyers!) would never take place and that would be at the cost or our healthcare, each and every one of us. Problem is, the lawyers get 1/3 of the damages - so even if you were to get a fair settlement by the time the lawyers are done it is far from fair. In addition it makes it FAR more difficult for those of us with legitimate claims to receive fair treatment in issues that wouldn't have required an attorney in the first place.
(Trust me on this one! I'll tell you about it someday when it is done!)
DKK

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