Originally Posted by SteveZ

No different than having more people understand the merits of eating right, exercise, regular check-ups, not doing drugs, don't smoke, etc..

There is no question that we have an exceptionally convoluted body of law affecting us all, and every day the various legislatures make it more of a challenge. The public frustration with it all is understandable, but it is the public's law, written by their representatives and signed by their chief executive (state and fed).

"It would not surprise me to hear that you have seen patients who present themselves with situations that are now irreversible, but had they applied some common sense, changed their living patterns just a little, and bothered to learn how their bodies worked to some degree, they would not find themselves in a rotten situation."

It's no different with the law. All too often there would be those who thought they knew it all because they considered themselves smart about other things, refused to concede how they did things in any manner because it was inconvenient, and just flat-out were legally wrong. There were times we could fix things, and other times where we couldn't, because things had progressed too far down the bad road.

In my world, the best client was the knowledgeable one who really understood "the system," willing to learn more, and accepted the fact that s/he was just one cog in the societal wheel, and not the drive train. In that regard, in my perfect world, the citizenry would fully understand the laws their representatives have put on the books, so that every legal action wasn't contentious, and they would know which representatives weren't really representing their interests. A nation full of people who really know the law - not just wish it to be what it isn't - which govern their society makes for a nation full of people that don't make dumb legal mistakes which can indeed be fatal in some manner. They make the best clients.

We've had an interesting exchange so far. Whether the medical profession should be exempt from consumer action, or consumers should be restricted in their expectation as to quality of delivered services really doesn't matter to me as a lawyer (non-PI). What that legal standard will be is whatever the law-makers say it will be. The public is free in its legal system to experiment with "it's legal today, illegal tomorrow, but the week after we may change it again." The public is fickle, so if the next legal experiment doesn't deliver the goods, the pendulum usually swings even more extreme in response than what was the original situation.

Will tort reform happen in Florida, or some form of federal intervention occur? Like anything else, our society allows "noble experiments," and to what degree professional exemptions to liability (which really "tort reform" is) shall be allowed remains to be seen. Should the medical profession obtain this legalized level of public trust - which such tort reform is - then the potential for public expectation for better service, fewer "preventable medical errors," and probably some unrealistic, yet-to-be-articulated demands is probable in its quid-pro-quo for tort reform. If this trust is perceived by the public as violated in any way by the medical profession, the repercussions could be brutal - and truly socialized medicine could be the next "pendulum swing." (which I hope never happens!)