|
|
Take Two Aspirins and Don’t Call Me in the
Morning.
We’d like to welcome you to this month’s issue
of the Lawyers Stink E-mail Newsletter. We’re glad you can join us today
as we discuss a problem that is having a profound effect on each of us
living in this country. That problem is the ever increasing number of
frivolous lawsuits directed at America’s health care system.
Frivolously filed lawsuits against members of the health care field are
nothing new. As a matter of fact, doctors have been targets of ambulance
chasing lawyers for decades. Lawyers have long viewed the medical
profession as the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Lawyers suing doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and health related
organizations is now considered just another day at the office in the
medical profession.
But with litigation crazed personal injury lawyers now actively soliciting
one and all to join in their unrelenting parade of medical malpractice
lawsuits, health care related litigation has grown to epidemic
proportions. Patients are now beginning to really feel the pinch of
medical lawsuit abuse.
In some areas of the country, most notably in certain areas of California,
Texas, Mississippi, Nevada, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, medical care
is becoming increasingly hard to find and emergency care is becoming
almost nonexistent. The reason is simple – and scary. A tidal wave of
medical malpractice lawsuits, the vast majority of which are frivolous in
nature, have doctors in these areas running for cover. The exponential
growth of health care related litigation is having a direct impact on both
the availability and affordability of medical care.
In some areas, such as south Texas for example, many patients are faced
with the prospects of traveling dozens if not hundreds of miles to find
suitable health care. Because of an ever increasing flood of malpractice
lawsuits and skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums in south
Texas cities, a direct derivative of excessive frivolous litigation,
scores of doctors have been either moving to less litigious regions of the
state or simply hanging up their stethoscopes.
Look, we can all agree right here that there are some bad doctors out
there. There’s no question about it. These quacks who take advantage of
their patients deserve to get what’s coming to them. If foaming at the
mouth lawyers sue the tar out of these swindlers, then so be it. But
that’s not the problem we’re addressing here, regardless of what the self
serving personal injury hacks tell us. There are a lot of good doctors who
are getting pummeled with lawyers and lawsuits and that is a problem that
threatens the core of the health care industry.
The consequences of rampant civil litigation, which has the medical field
by the throat, are alarmingly evident. The Dallas Morning News has
reported that over fifty percent of all Texas physicians had claims filed
against them in the last year. Personal injury lawyers will quickly defend
this litigation explosion, saying each and every one of these lawsuits
were filed on merit alone. Come on, that’s crazy – but that’s lawyers for
you.
Not surprisingly, this frenetic feeding frenzy fueled by avaricious
lawyers looking to hit the lawsuit lottery has set off a predictably
negative chain reaction throughout Texas’ entire health care industry. But
Texas lawyers haven’t come close to cornering the market on frivolous
health care litigation. Lawyers all across America are jumping on the
medical lawsuit carousel with both feet (and both greedy hands as well).
The costs of medical malpractice insurance coverage, if the doctors can
find a carrier willing to underwrite the risk, has soared through the
roof. And that’s true even for doctors who have not had a claim filed
against them. The insurance underwriters readily recognize the inherent
risk of insuring even the best of the very best doctors – because it’s
only a matter of time before that doctor gets waylaid with a lawsuit as
well.
Certain high risk specialties, which carry with them an unacceptably high
risk of lawsuit exposure, have seen doctors leaving in droves. And when
doctors leave the area or retire from the profession, patients are sent
scrambling trying to locate a new health care provider.
Health care insurance companies, with their deep pockets, are a favorite
target of the personal injury and class action lawyers. Lucky them. But
with each frivolous claim filed, the insurers are forced to pass the costs
of defending and settling frivolous lawsuits on down to the insurer’s
customers.
Drug companies, who manufacture prescription medicine for millions of
Americans, must allocate an inordinately large portion of their budgets to
defend themselves against a flurry of nonstop litigation. This of course
results in increased prescription costs for the insurance companies and
patients alike.
Do the money grubbing lawyers, who bring thousands upon thousands of
medical malpractice and related lawsuits every day of the week, give a
rat’s rump about the debilitating effects of medical lawsuit abuse on the
health care industry? Pu-leeeeeeeeze. In 1995, Texas lawmakers passed
civil lawsuit reform that led to an abbreviated decline in malpractice
lawsuits. But the personal injury lawyers quickly regrouped and carefully
devised schemes to skillfully circumvent the legislation. Today, these
reforms don’t even pose a hindrance to the personal injury crowd as they
continue to sue the health care industry ragged.
Personal injury lawyers have gotten better at finding the best courts in
which to file their frivolous lawsuits. By seeking the best venues for
litigation, the personal injury lawyers significantly enhance the
potential for a hefty payoff. This distinct advantage results in insurance
companies regularly settling these nuisance claims - which invariably
results in more frivolous lawsuits being filed.
What do you suppose are the consequences of all of these lawsuits?
Frivolous lawsuits hamper access to affordable health care. Frivolous
lawsuits continue to drive health care costs up at an exponential clip.
Frivolous lawsuits cause doctors to spend more time and resources
defending themselves against these senseless lawsuits; thereby allowing
less time and resources to be devoted to their patients. Does any of this
matter to the sleazy, cheesy lawyers bilking and bamboozling the health
care field? Not a chance.
Patients are ultimately the real victims in this high stakes game of
lawsuit poker. In the end, they pay more and more money for less and less
care. Medical lawsuit abuse doesn’t just clog our courts around the
country, it is jeopardizing our entire health care industry. The clock is
ticking and the pile of lawsuits are mounting. Something needs to be done
to prevent wanton abuse of the legal system by quick buck con artists
(also known as money grubbing lawyers) who recklessly pillage and plunder
of our health care system for their own financial gain. Meaningful reform,
not just window dressing, is needed to curb and curtail medical lawsuit
abuse by lawyers and help control the costs of health care that’s
spiraling out of sight.
Lawyers, on the other hand, like the system just the way it is. They just
want us to take our medicine and quit our bellyaching. After all, they
reason, this isn’t really a matter of life or death.
Oh really?
As always, we wish you a lawyer free day!
Hey, if you’ve got a goofy lawsuit you’d like to pass on to us, simply
click
Stupid Lawsuits and Other Funny Stuff and we’ll add yours to
our ever growing list of stupid lawsuits.
And while you’re at in, why not take a few moments and check out our
growing collection of
Funny Lawyer
Quotes, Jokes and Cartoons?
It’s
Time to Wake Up and Smell the Lawyers
Book: If you haven’t read our highly acclaimed book, you’re missing out on
a load of information about America’s legal system – and a load of laughs
as well. You can read excerpts taken from the book by clicking
book
chapter summaries here.
You can sign up for our FREE newsletter by clicking subscribe in the box
on the left of the page. Please tell your friends, relatives and business
associates about our Lawyers Stink E-mail Newsletter. They can subscribe
at our web site:
http://www.power-of-attorneys.com (of course you can e-mail
this newsletter to them!).
If you would like to review past issues of our Lawyers Stink E-mail
Newsletter, simply click
view back issues
of our newsletter.
We always respect your privacy and will not share your e-mail address with
anyone. If, at any time, you decide that you don’t want to receive this
newsletter any more, simply click the unsubscribe link
within the body of your newsletter.
Thanks for reading this issue of the Lawyers Stink E-mail Newsletter and
we’ll see you next month. As always, we welcome your comments and
suggestions about our newsletter.
|
|
