Like a Bar association.

Every industry should get a jury of their peers. Wall street execs behavior should only be judged by other investment bankers. When docs sue insurance companies for failing to properly reimburse, the jury should be made up of the defendant’s peers – other insurance company execs/adjusters. It’s not fair that just docs get that.

“damages awarded for emotional issues (”pain and suffering” type stuff)seem absurdly high.”

What is the average award and payout for noneconomic damages?

“but our societal norm is to lawyer up if a bad outcome is experienced. “

Really? What percentage of patients who have a bad outcome file suit or make a claim?

“The court can/should award damages based on things like lifetime cost of medical care the injured party will incur, modifications to dwellings, special education, foregone wages in case of death, and the like”

Sounds like you just gave money to pay doctors, contractors, and teachers. What does the person get for the lost quality of life? If they’re pissing through a plastic tube for the rest of their life? That have any value to you?

The country doesn’t need to pay more, but a higher percentage of what it is paying needs to go to docs- who get a minority of the healthcare dollar

Have a look at:

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=283969

‘Another commonly cited contention is that medical malpractice litigation is driving up U.S. health spending. The authors compared malpractice claims data from the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K., using information from national reports and databases. While the U.S. had 50 percent more malpractice claims filed per 1,000 population than the U.K. and Australia, and 350 percent more than Canada, payments were lower, on average, than those in Canada and the U.K. More important, average payments per capita were only $16 in the U.S. in 2001, compared with $12 in the U.K., $10 in Australia, and $4 in Canada. Including awards, legal fees, and underwriting costs, the total amount spent defending U.S. malpractice claims was an estimated $6.5 billion in 2001, or 0.46 percent of total health spending.

‘Defensive medicine could contribute more to health spending than malpractice payments do, but it is difficult to measure and estimates vary widely, say the authors. Even the upper estimate—9 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—would explain only part of the higher U.S. health spending, they say.’

Also:

‘If litigation and waiting lists cannot explain higher U.S. health spending, then what factors are responsible? Part of the difference can be attributed to higher U.S. incomes and cost of living. But the principal factor, say the authors, is higher medical care prices. Not only do they make health care unaffordable for many Americans, the extra dollars spent are not yielding demonstrably better quality of care or patient satisfaction. “Future U.S. policies should focus on the prices paid for health services,” the authors say, “and on improving the quality of those services.”‘

So what it is it?

“After seeing this once or twice, neurosurgeons caught on and stopped working on the brain.”

What did they catch on to? Did they study the case to see if their was negligence? What was the actual payout? Was the case overturned on appeal? If they can’t answer these questions, their risk/reward analysis is pretty piss poor. Perhaps not making decisions of that magnitude with regard to their patients’ brains is a good idea.

Sorry, but legal aspects are very far from being the major drivers of cost. The costs of US healthcare are far higher than other countries when you factor this out (eg admin, insurance overheads, salaries, drug costs, fragmentation of facilities etc). The question remains whether you realistically expect yet more to be spent propping up physicians in their present offices. Or whether there’s another way.

Of course there will be a shortage on the Monday after a holiday weekend in the week in-between Christmas and New Year’s for mothers who have children with colds who want them to be ‘looked’ at.

We have so little sense of community and are so impatient.