West Palm Beach Personal Injury Lawyer - Head & Brain Injuries

Patients Pay for Tort Reform

John Hopkins — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 15:18:57 GMT

Florida doctors have been successful in passing sweeping tort reform measures twice in this state. Each time they made claims that verdicts handed down by "uninformed" jurors were outrageously high and they were having trouble paying high premiums for malpractice insurance. They threatened the citizens of Florida that they were all going to leave the state and they would leave us with no one to care for our health. Legislators were clamoring about the need for reform. Insurance companies were sitting quietly in the wings; smiling and chuckling.

Many states across the country have passed similar tort reform measures and the victims of medical malpractice everywhere are feeling the repercussions. The Las Vegas Business Press has reported the results of their draconian malpractice reforms. The business journal points out that on average physicians and hospitals win malpractice lawsuits more often than plaintiffs. Because their are so many "frivolous lawsuits"? The cost of preparing a malpractice case for trial often runs hundreds of thousands of dollars and because patients damages are capped in Florida, insurance companies are more willing to make cases as expensive as possible for plaintiffs. Experienced plaintiffs' attorneys simply can not proceed with cases having little or no merit; that has always been the case and tort reform has simply resulted in victims of medical malpractice not being able to exercise their constitutional right of access to the court.

So who is benefiting from tort reform? Insurance companies who have recorded record profits and have seen claim payouts drop dramatically. Physicians who have little or no consequences for the negligent practice of medicine. Bad doctors will have little or no penalties for causing the death and injury to their patients.

Who is paying for tort reform? Patients who suffer injury or death are paying. Brain injured and paralyzed children hurt by negligent care are paying. Tax payers are paying severely. For each victim of malpractice who can not pursue the negligent doctor; who will pay for their future medical care and loss of earning capacity? That is where tax payers, you and I, com in to the picture. We will ultimately pay for much of the damage caused by negligent physicians; through higher payouts by medicare, medicaid, social security.

Nevada attorney Gerald Gillock provides a good description for how tort reform has affected the ability of victims to proceed with their cases:

Prior to the reform, the insurance company would still win the majority of the cases, but that was because they would settle the cases that should be settled before trial, but you would still get plaintiffs' verdicts on good cases. In the state of Nevada, it is just unfortunate all the false publicity that is out there (on malpractice claims). Now, you can be drunk as a skunk and operate on someone and still only be liable for $350,000.

Local OB-GYN Jerry Jones had a different take. He said the tort reforms were necessary to maintain quality health care in Nevada. "It's given doctors hope that they can come back and rebuild their practices." Perhaps what Dr. Jones really means is that it makes practicing medicine a profession without any consequence for causing injury to your patient.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Hopkins

Robots to the Rescue

John Hopkins — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 12:09:29 GMT

Victims of stroke and autistic children are being helped by a robot and a video game. A robot guides the limbs of stroke patients repeatedly through a video game. The constant manipulation helps to rehabilitate damaged limbs of stroke patients. The robot takes over the movement of the joystick if the patient is not capable of moving it appropriately. Autistic children are also being assisted with learning and emotional development through use of the robotic technology. Autistic children are particularly attentive to the repetition of the robotic software.

Robotic technology is also being used as assitive devices for the elderly and infirmed. Despite the elderly inclination toward "computer-phobics", the devices have been well accepted as assistive devices.

With any luck, we are not too far off from the use of this technology in the rehabilitation of spinal cord and brain injury patients.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Hopkins

We Can All Sleep Better...Malpractice Insurers Reaping Profits

John Hopkins — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 08:46:10 GMT

Injured victims of medical negligence continue to suffer the inability to find lawyers who have the expertise and financial strength to handle medical negligence cases. The passage of "tort reform" in Florida has created a situation in which injured victims can no longer recover fair compensation for their "human damages". Human damages are those that the insurance lobby feel juries have gotten carried away with in verdicts. You know, like the pain and suffering of losing a loved one as the result of errors committed during "routine surgery" or the pain & suffering of parents who must take care of their child brain damaged by health care errors.

But, alas, there is good news on the horizon! Although injured victims of medical malpractice may go without thier day in court and without the ability to receive compensation for their injuries; insurance companies are doing better! It was recently reported in the Birmingham Business Journal that the nation's fourth largest medical malpractice insurance company, ProAssurance, has posted a $29.38 million dollar profit.

So, we can all sleep better knowing that the insurance industry is profiting and health care providers are able to skirt accountability. Injured victims? Let them eat cake!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Hopkins

Caps on Damages Sound Good Until Tragedy Strikes Near You

John Hopkins — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:50:19 GMT

I recently read an article relating to a news cast on Fox 28, in Indiana and it raised those sensitive hackles on the back of my neck.

The article was about Ashley Faloon and an auto accident that landed her in the hospital. She was recovering well from what were relatively minor injuries; when a nurse injected her IV line with insulin. Certainly, the nurses action was accidental; she certainly did not mean to cause Ashley to be profundly brain damaged. Although Ashley's care will amount to many millions of dollars over her lifetime, Indiana state law caps damages at $1.25 million. Sounds like a lot of money, right? It is a pittance when you consider that her care will exceed $15 to 20,000,000!

The fact is insurance companies are for profit businesses and they will do what they can to enhance that profit.They will adopt procedures for denying as many claims as they can get away with and they will whisper in doctors ears that ALL their problems stem from lawsuits filed by trial lawyers. Even in the face of insurance company executives testifying to legislatures that tort reform will have no effect on malpractice rates; doctors who are blinded by their programmed feelings for trial lawyers; campaign agressively to put caps on their patient's damages when they negligently injure their patients. They, of course, would never agree taht damages should be capped for injuring someone as a result of negligently running a stop sign; but can rationalize doing so for their own negligent acts.

I have watched injured victims harmed by an insurance industry that places profits over people. I am no "Polly Anna"; I understand that businesses must be carefully run to keep them healthy and able to keep its employees gainfully employed. The problem often is that there is never "enough" profit.

I have some tort reformer friends and they are consistently railing at me about "those trial lawyers"! Although I am not a lawyer, I have made trial lawyers my constant companions for thirty years; both defense and plaintiff. I have worked for insurance companies and left them to "come into the light". Like many of my "tort reformer" friends, I have been thankfully blessed not to have suffered any huge tragedies in my life so far. It is interesting that the same people who say they are for tort reform; are the very people who yell the loudest when tragedy sadly strikes one of their loved ones and that very tort reform they voted for makes the tragedy so much more profound and so much more damaging.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Hopkins

Brain Injuries: The Iraq War's Legacy

Staff Writer — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 11:42:23 GMT

Michael Kaplan in New York has been doing a great job of keeping up with news and developments on the alarming number of soldiers who are returning from Iraq with brain injuries. Ever since the USA Today brought the country's attention to the problem, soldiers and veterans have been battling the Senate Committee considering federal funding for a brain injury research center.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer