John Edwards--Malpractice attorney

My statement did not refer to lawsuits generally, the subject is John Edwards.

This has been the subject of numerous threads on ALLNURSES.COM. I think it should be easy to find my posts along with those by those more skilled at debate than I.

I agree. Trial lawyers may be greedy, but their lawsuits have prompted many reforms, and not just in the malpractice area. All of the disclosures you now see in drug ads about potential risks are because of trial lawyer lawsuits. Blood banks refused to test for AIDs until trial lawyers sued them for it. The list goes on and on. If they happen to make money in the process, that's fine by me.

A friend of mine has a child with cerebral palsy. He is convinced the doctor caused it by delaying the delivery too long while his wife was ready to deliver. The doctor was very late in showing up for the delivery.

Whatever the case may be, litigation is a long, expensive process. I've been involved in four lawsuits and every time the plaintiff had to prove the case. All four judges demanded it. If a case doesn't have merit, it's usually thrown out, long before a jury even gets to hear it.

If there is a problem with frivolous lawsuits, it's really with the judges, not the juries. Anyone who's been involved in any court case knows the judge really has the power. He or she decides what the jury hears or doesn't hear, and what facts have merit, or not.

I agree the trial lawyers are greedy. But I'll take greed that often works in the public interest over greed that works against it any day of the week.

"Ho Hum, another thread turned to Kerry vs Bush."

That's all this is folks.

Enjoy yourselves!

home http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/heal...fs000140.php3/ healthcare / factsheets

FACTSHEET


Healthcare Costs Not Hiked By HMO Liability
Numerous official studies show liability reform would be both health-enhancing and cost-effective.
In a study of 1 million public employees in California, people who can sue their managed care plans already, the Kaiser Family Foundation found the cost of lawsuits and settlements was minimal-no more than 13 cents per member per month.1

The Congressional Budget Office reported that giving patients the right to sue would add up to only 1.2% to health care premiums, including costs of so-called defensive medicine.2
Washington D.C. based Muse Associates analyzed a provision in the national HMO reform bill, H.R. 1415, that would end federal preemption of workers' remedies for personal injury and wrongful death. Muse Associates' January 1998 study of the provision found no increase to, at most, a 0.2% increase in premiums.3

Dr. Troyen A. Brennan of the Harvard School of Public Health found that the health care system wastes $60 billion annually to care for injuries attributable to undeterred medical negligence. The landmark Harvard Medical Malpractice Study found that medical malpractice causes 300,000 injuries annually in hospitals alone. The deterrent effect of patient protection laws can save the health care system such staggering human and financial losses.4
Existing HMO liability legislation has not resulted in increased costs and litigation. In Texas, an HMO liability measure, SB 386, which took effect in September 1997, has not raised health care costs or resulted in a "litigation explosion."
The Texas Department of Insurance reported that between September 1997 and March 1998 the increase in total spending per member per month of full service HMOs was only 0.1%.5

In written support of similar HMO liability legislation to California state legislators, the author of the Texas libility bill, Texas State Senator David Sibley, writes "When the state of Texas passed its legislation holding managed care organizations accountable, the managed care industry said it would cost over a billion dollars. When an actuarial analysis by Milliman and Robertson for a Texas HMO was performed on the impact of the bill after it was passed, the cost was estimated to be a mere 34 cents per member, per month (about 0.3 percent)."6

Senator Sibley continues, "The law became effective on September 1, 1997 and since then not a single case has been filed." Since Sibley's letter, only one case has been filed under the Texas law.

The New York Times reports, "What lessons does Texas offer? The short answer is that the spotty early evidence does not support a lot of the dire warnings on Capitol Hill about a landslide of litigation."8


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1 Impact of Potential Changes to ERISA", Kaiser Family Foundation, June 1998
2 "CBO Cost Estimate- H.R. 3605/S. 1890", Congressional Budget Office, July 16,1998
3 "The Economic Impact of Managed Care Consumer Protection Act", Muse Associates.
4 "Testimony of Dr. Troyen A. Brennan on Medical Malpractice and Health Care Reform Before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment", Harvard School of Public Health, November, 10, 1993.
5 "In Texas, a Laboratory Test on the Effects of Suing H.M.O.'s", New York Times, Carol Marie Cropper, September 13, 1998, Section 3, pg.1.
6 Texas State Senator David Sibley letter to California legislators in support of AB2436 HMO liability bill, June 24, 1998, pg.1.
7 Sibley letter, pg1.
8 Carol Marie Cropper, Section 3, pg.1.






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The costs of litigation are way overblown. Does anyone wonder why all of the tallest buildings in America's cities are owned by insurance companies. Maybe that is the reason for rising premiums.

Any time a lawsuit is brought against a hospital, you can bet large amounts of money on getting named also and deposed if you were anywhere near the patient at any time during the supposed incident. That's where nurses are impacted. The media will say the hospital is sued, but nurses are very directly implicated. Edwards says he's helping the little guy, but his tactics harm some "little guys" at the same time.

And when you're deposed, they talk to you as if you were singlehandedly responsible for whatever happened, regardless of what it is. If you think the docs will support you, forget it. If you think your hospital will support you beyond what they absolutely must, forget it. You'll be on your own. In two depositions, I was truly amazed by the questions I had to answer which all but assumed I was guilty, guilty, guilty. And I wasn't there for the delivery in one case. And in the other, a CP case interestingly enough since that's seems to be Edwards public claim to fame, the patient refused a C/S even though there was evidence of fetal distress and thick mec. When she finally consented, the OR crew had a new case opened, and a second crew had to be called in. THEN she refused to go to sleep (this was way back when and our place did not do routine epidurals or spinals) so there was an additional delay for her epidural (questionable decision since they were rarely done there then) to set up. She sued because of the delay in getting the second crew in: but she herself caused two delays. No way to prove the baby wasn't compromised before she was ever admitted.

Both cases were settled out of court and I'm sure the docs (who did nothing wrong in either case) probably paid large sums of money, most of which went to the malpractice attorneys.

Your vote for Edwards says you're okay with that. As nurses, are you really okay with that?

Now, I acknowledge I have no experience as a nurse to back me up, but my vote will not be based on nursing issues.

What about the cases when there clearly is wrongdoing by the doctor's and/or nurses. We must acknowledge that they do actually happen. My friend's dad was walking around for two days with a surgical instrument left inside him. Who's fault was that? My other friend has been sterile since the age of 16 because of her doctor's negligence. She went through many needless surgeries because of his multiple mis-diagnosises(sp?) He tried to blame it on a language barrier. In these instances, there should be someone who has their back.

Again, I am not a nurse yet so don't flame me. I am talking clearly from the perspective of a person who acknowledges that mistakes are often made. Heck, I even may make a few when I finally get my license. As for now, if a doctor or nurse, put me, my kids, or my husband in harm's way, I would be looking for the best representation I could find.

people look askance at trial lawyers
until they need one

I believe some tort reform is important
in a overhaul of our health care system
but will have no difficulty voting for the Kerry/Ewards ticket

I am heartened to see Americans are not going for Republican dirt
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