Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveZ
The PI practitioners won't care. If the practice becomes unprofitable due to government fee-setting despite having to wait 2-5 years for payment of services, then there won't be PI practitioners. They will just go do other things more profitable. The medical profession, various manufacturers and others will jump for joy, because they will now be totally exempt from any consumer oversight, especially since state regulators really don't regulate, and peer review is also essentially worthless. Despite preventable medical errors being the sixth leading cause of death in the US, how many medical practitioners ever have their licenses suspended or revoked? Perhaps if those groups protected the public like they are supposed to, then the public would not look so often to the courts for justice?
The only ones "taking advantage" of anyone is the insurance industry. The premium versus payout ratio keeps increasing in favor of "premium," despite claim payments remaining fairly level over the past six years (see http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xchg/...s.xsl/8689.htm ), They see a windfall in premium revenue and top it off with bailout money - what a deal! |
Funny how concerned you seem to be that there may be fewer PI lawyers around but little mention of the declining physician numbers, nor recognition of the price control issues physicians face that you seem to fear so much for the PI folks.
And again you are wrong. "the
only ones taking advantage of
anyone is the insurance industry". Again, were this not so blatantly inaccurate it might induce a chuckle.
You are right about medical errors, and it is a multifaceted problem in a complex and high tech system, a little difficult to appreciate when you are not working within it. As I stated earlier, placing more effort and resources in prevention is likely to do more to address the problem than the PI folks you so staunchly defend. I don't expect they are all unscrupulous by any stretch, but experience tells me a very significant number are.
I would easily estimate the numbers of suspensions and revocations is in the thousands annually based on my knowledge of many state medical boards actions of which I am aware of and those I have been involved with peripherally. Is the oversight perfect? Of course not, on
either end of the spectrum.Hopefully it will continue to improve.
You may defend those that abuse the system all day, and denigrate those of us struggling to not only exist in it but improve it, by condemning all as a group.. As usual, I would encourage you to do a little more in depth research into the intricacies before making innaccurate judgments, statements, or inferences regarding healthcare providers and the issues they deal with (financial, legal, ethical and otherwise). At least being open and willing to learn would be a great start.