Monday, August 20, 200712
Health courts
Give them a chance, says Mark Crane. Great op-ed:
Juries of ordinary citizens generally aren’t asked to decide complex legal disputes about maritime cases, tax law, bankruptcy, workers’ compensation, divorce and child custody matters. And for good reason. While the principle of trial by jury is sacrosanct in America, basic fairness and common sense demand that such highly technical issues require expertise from witnesses and judges experienced in dealing with them.(via Overlawyered)
That’s not so for cases involving allegations of medical malpractice, which are no less complicated but still left in the hands of lay jurors with little knowledge of medicine. Trials often amount to a game of roulette. Jurors hear testimony from dueling expert witnesses—hired guns who favor one party’s interpretation of events. The most personable witness may sway a jury no matter how fanciful his theories are. Jurors receive little guidance from judges as to how to evaluate that testimony or how much to compensate deserving plaintiffs.
Comments
http://supremacyclaus.blogspot.com/2007/08/problems-with-health-court-proposal.html
3:23 PM
Let's start with physicians' claims for reimbursement against health insurers. Whenever the physicians think they have not been properly reimbursed, we'll need a jury of adjusters to make the call.
Oh, and this expert jury of adjusters will need to be paid by the taxpayers, so we'll need to raise taxes.
3:48 PM
On the other hand, in this state, the main contributors to judges elections are the trial lawyers, to whomt they are thereby beholden for their continuation of their jobs which earn them very generous pensions.
7:40 PM
Stip exaggerating. Above it is pointed out that divorce and child custody matters are handled by special courts. How do you ignore this in concluding that the current system is "just fine"? Doctors dont sue EVERYTIME they feel they were underreimbursed. Get a life.
7:57 PM
Patients don't sue everytime a physician is negligent, either. What's your point?
As to juries allegedly being irrational, says who? What evidence is there that they are any more irrational than judges, or physicians? Where is this proof?
As for how smart they are, Anon 7:40 shouldn't have such contempt for his fellow man. Perhaps he's not as bright as he thinks. I'd bet he's a physician, though, with that attitude.
8:41 PM
8:41 PM
Who is exaggerating? Why shouldn't every industry be entitled to judge themselves like physicians want to be? And at taxpayer expense for their experts?
8:43 PM
Of course not. We know med mal is much bigger and since the degree takes years of knowledge and experience to obtain, unlike so many others, every profession DOESNT need courts, becuase they dont hinge on such complicated topics and unlucky circumstance.
And the useless people who "argue for arguments' sake" on here know this. So stop being obtuse for no reason.
10:30 PM
How many people who do other jobs can tell you what they do and how they do it any easier than they can tell you what a physician does?
There are many legal malpractice cases, and there are innumerable cases involving defective design of products, buildings, etc. And there are innumerable cases involving insurance bad faith which require the juries to interpret the byzantine world of insurance contracts. Including insurance contracts that dictate how much physicians get paid for medical procedures. There are lawyers who specialize in every one of those areas.
So why shouldn't they get their own courts, complete with taxpayer subsidized experts who just happen to work in the same industry as the defendant?
5:13 PM
So no, they do not need special courts. Too much emotion rests with every human being over medical care/ Very little emotion is tied up in insurance contracts.
It is very different. But I can't convince you of that I guess.
7:41 PM
"Those cases are BORING. And usually the plaintiffs AND the defendents are wealthy. "
The jury doesn't know the respective wealth of the parties unless punitives are involved. Do you think medical malpractice is exciting? You think you should get special courts based on the level of jurors' excitement?
Very little emotion is tied up in insurance contracts? So the 900,000 doctors who've sued health insurers aren't emotional about the money they've lost?
Let your house get burned down and then have the insurer deny you based on a clause in your contract and see how emotional you are.
Do you have any concept of the world outside your own life?
7:50 PM
This is the point that you don't agree with. You;ve convinced yourself they are equal. So forget it.
7:08 PM
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