New Study Uncovers Doctor/Patient Communication Breakdown

An article in the Science section of The New York Times today revealed some scary facts about doctors about which patients should be aware.  According to a recent study out of the Weill Cornell Medical College, more than 7 percent of clinically significant test findings were never reported to the patient by their doctor.  Personal injury lawyers are constantly being attacked by physicians and their association mouthpieces for filing unnecessary lawsuits against doctors. As a result of this study, it seems abundantly clear here that the emperor has no clothes.  

Dr. Lawrence Casalino, the Weill Cornell associate professor who led the study, warns that patients should be on their toes after they've had test done by their doctor.

"Don't assume that 'no news is good news'," he said.  "That's a very dangerous assumption.  If you've had a test done and you don't hear about it a week or two later, call the doctor's office."

And, I suggest if you've been harmed in any way as a result of the delay, call a medical malpractice lawyer in New York, too.  

New York Times Uncovers VA Hospital Scandal

I read an investigative article on the front page of The New York Times today that made me wonder how a doctor could screw up so badly, for such a long time, right under the nose of a whole laundry list of regulators, and get away with it so easily?  The level of incompetence that existed in this hospital's cancer unit should make anyone, even doctors, resist efforts to put further restraints on medical malpractice lawsuits.   If not for trial lawyers, who is going to stand-up for the rights of patients who are injured, or killed, by rogue doctors like this Gary Kao at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia?  I think lawmakers need to think long and hard before capitulating to pressure from special interest groups like the American Medical Association, who are pushing for reforms that would protect physicians like Dr. Kao, and leave the patients he's injured with no legal recourse to recover fair damages for their injuries.

Obama Stressing the Right Approach to Healthcare Reform

President Obama is doing the right thing by stressing prevention and increased efficiency in our healthcare system; and by wanting to take a closer look at the huge profits, revenue surpluses and high premiums charged by big companies who sell doctors medical malpractice insurance.

There is absolutely no proof.  In fact, there is strong data to the contrary, that caps on jury awards for pain and suffering have led to lower premiums or improved quality and availability of medical care.  Statues passed in many states that placed caps on plaintiffs’ pain and suffering did nothing to lower insurance premiums or improve quality of care.

 It is to be expected that doctors, and their insurers, want to assign blame to trial lawyers and place the burden of responsibility for all of our healthcare woes on the shoulders of the legal profession, where it clearly doesn’t belong. 

David Brooks on Barack Obama and Healthcare Reform

In his Op Ed article today, the ubiquitous New York Times columnist David Brooks took out his crystal ball and revealed to his readers what he believes will be the relentless political maneuvering that will likely go on behind the scenes between now and the end of the year as Barack Obama sets about the business of gaming the system in his favor to ultimately get Congress to see things his way on the critical matter of healthcare reform.

Brooks refers to the current rising cost of healthcare as the thing that threatens to destroy the nation and everything the "the skinny guy with big ears" holds dear.

From what I've seen so far, I think this president is probably the only man alive who can somehow pull together the wildly disparate forces tugging every which way against him, and then find a way to appease the storm of protesters each with his or her own ideas of what should be done, in an attempts to bring much-needed healthcare reform to the nation. 

Conflicting Reports on Causes of Healthcare Cost Overruns

How ironic to read one of the lead stories in The New York Times today that was obviously planted by The American Medical Association who told the reporter that "One democrat was willing to entertain the idea of medical malpractice lawsuit reform:  President Obama."

Only yesterday a post was entered here on this blog that talked about another article by Atul Gawande, a Harvard-affiliated surgeon, that appeared in the June 1 issue of The New Yorker.  According to the post, Dr. Gawande completed a study only recently and has concluded that unless doctors can be induced to rein themselves in, there is little hope for the kind of healthcare reforms the Obama administration is seeking.

Unlike what the AMA would have you believe, according to Dr. Gawande, it's not the "greedy trial lawyers" who are to blame for the huge cost overruns -- malpractice claims have practically disappeared in some states due to tough state malpractice law, which leaves no rationale for defensive medicine -- the reason for the soaring costs is over-treatment. Doctors are performing extra tests, surgeries and other procedures to increase their incomes.

Study by Harvard Surgeon Reveals Real Culprit for Rising Healthcare Costs

According to an editorial in this Sunday's New York Times, there is disturbing evidence that many doctors -- not the majority who seek to do good for their patients -- but many doctors who are doing more than is medically useful and necessary and often reap the generous rewards by over-treating their patients.  The Times quoted an article by Atul Gawande, a Harvard-affiliated surgeon that appeared in the June 1 issue of The New Yorker.  According to Dr. Gawande, healthcare cost are skyrocketing and in the long run, unless doctors can be induced to rein themselves in, there is little hope for the kind of reforms the Obama administration is seeking for all Americans.

Gawande points out that none of the usual rationalizations put forth by doctors, big insurance companies and many opponents of healthcare reform, hold up upon closer inspection.  Turns out, Gawande writes,  it's not the "greedy trial lawyers" who are to blame for the huge cost overruns.  Malpractice claims have practically disappeared in some states due to tough state malpractice law, which Rawande says leaves "no rationale for defensive medicine."

The reason for the soaring costs, some doctors admitted to Rawande, is over-treatment. Doctors are performing extra tests, surgeries and other procedures to increase their incomes.

Money Paid for Med Mal Claims in NY State Fall As Have Claims

The New York Public Interest Research Group recently reviewed 15 years of federal data on medical malpractice payments.   According to a report published by the group, money paid for malpractice claims in New York State has actually fallen in recent years, and the number of overall claims has remained “remarkably stable.”

The report says these findings raise serious doubts about claims by the healthcare industry that the state’s med mal laws are in need of reform. Unknown factors appear to be behind the soaring medical malpractice insurance premiums in the state, according to the report.

“The claim being made by the medical lobby that this is a lawsuit crisis is just fear-mongering,” said Blair Horner, legislative director for the research group. “There obviously must be something else going on or the premiums wouldn’t keep going up. And someone’s got to figure out what that is.”

Further, the report’s findings also contradict another claim often made by hospital lobbyists and doctors’ advocates: that high malpractice premiums are driving doctors out of the state. In fact, the report states, the number of doctors practicing in New York has grown at a rate more than five times the rate of growth in the state’s population.

Virginia jury awards $1.75 Million to child with Erb's palsy

Preston J. Douglas, a New York City medical malpractice attorney and partner in Gurfein Douglas LLP, represented the child. At the time of the delivery the doctor directed the nurse assisting him to apply "fundal pressure" or pressure at the top of the stomach. The made the baby's stuck shoulders even more difficult to delivery and caused the doctor to pull too hard to delivery the baby. This excessive pulling caused nerve damage to the nerves the control the arm and left the baby with Erb's Palsy.