May 23rd, 2008

Linkworthy


You haven’t seen too much in this space lately because the practice of law always trumps blogging.

But these items jumped out at me and deserve a read:

The truth about Texas tort “reform” (TortDeform);

Last week Ted Frank took to task Marc Rodwin, the author of a study that debunks the idea of a crisis in medical malpractice premiums. Rodwin responded; And then Frank fired back.

Dear Diary, Ruthie had put up Blawg Review #160. Please check it out;

Brooks Schuelke puts up Personal Injury Law Round-Up #63;

The Daily News says to dump dangerous doctors and screen the disproportionate share of doctors that get sued so often (PopTort);

Some really interesting legal drafting. I mean the kind you’ve never seen before (Quad Cities);

And last: Did you know I was a healthcare blog? Seems I missed the HealthCare100 by thismuch.

 

May 22nd, 2008

How to Put Medical Malpractice Attorneys Out of Business

Today’s New York Times has an editorial on doctors saying they are sorry for mistakes, and the dramatic decrease in litigation that results. This philosophy of apology is anathema to many doctors, who according to a study, still cling to the White Coat of Silence in covering up their mistakes and those of their colleagues.

A couple dramatic examples from the Times editorial, which follows a May 18th story on the subject:

At the University of Illinois, for example, of 37 cases where the hospital acknowledged a preventable error and apologized, only one patient filed suit. At the University of Michigan Health System, existing claims and lawsuits dropped from 262 in August 2001 to 83 in August 2007, and legal costs fell by two-thirds.

This drop in claims comes as no shock to me, since one of the primary reasons people make that first call to a lawyer is anger at being mistreated or being unable to get information. That doesn’t mean they have a viable lawsuit of course — any decent medical malpractice attorney will decline 95% or more of the inquiries — but it is often the reason for the call.

I wrote about this subject a year ago (see: More Doctors Encouraged To Say “I’m Sorry”) and said:

I’ve always believed, based on the manner in which calls come in to my office, that poor communication (bad bedside manner) is the primary reason patients call attorneys. They are angry, or confused, or both.

So empirical evidence is now supporting the anecdotal evidence that I have acquired over the past 20+ years of medical malpractice litigation.

Just as in politics, and so many other things, the cover-up is often much worse than the initial mistake. Because while the accident may be negligence, the cover-up is an intentional act of deception. And when that deception comes from someone that you have trusted your life with, the sense of betrayal is profound. There are few emotions in this world that can compete with the sense of betrayal.

So if doctors and hospitals want to put me out of business, then say you’re sorry and act like the decent people you likely are when things are going right. But if you want to keep me practicing medical malpractice litigation, then keep turning your backs on the patients when things go wrong, and let them make that upset and angry phone call to me.

 

May 16th, 2008

Linkworthy


Double amputee Oscar Pistorius of South Africa can compete in the Olympics with prosthetic legs, according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (ABAJournal and JammieWearingFool, with video);

New York lawyers sue attorney general over pension probe (Adjunct Law Professor Blog);

A study debunks the medical malpractice crisis (Ambrogi @ Legal Blog Watch);

Lawyers average salaries place them on 17th on list (Elefant @ Legal Blog Watch;

The whistle gets blown at Blawg Review #159;

Brooks Schuelke brings us Personal Injury Law Round-Up #62;

Senator Russ Feingold has an op-ed on arbitration clauses (TortDeform);

An incoming law student learns how easy it is to trash your internet reputation (Above the Law); and

Live-blogging U.S. v. Feiger, to watch Gerry Spence in action (Norm Pattis)

 

May 15th, 2008

JetBlueLoo Follow-Up: What Really Happened?

A new account of the JetBlue toilet lawsuit by Gokhan Mutlu is now out, differing substantially from the original story. The version that was in the news on Monday resulted from a $2M suit filed in New York for forcing this passenger to sit in the toilet. The story sounded “ludicrous” to me, and I said so (See: Jet Blue Hit With Toilet Lawsuit).

While JetBlue didn’t respond in public to the allegations, another version, albeit third hand, dripped out in the comments in my blog in the post above.

According to this account, Mutlu was riding free and the captain was the one who got him on the flight:

He begged [captain] to help him get on flight – excersising Caring value CA said he would ASK jumpseating (Not [deadheading]) FA if she was willing to give up seat for pass rider. She was.

Then when the captain went to answer the call of nature mid-flight:

When on bathroom break, non rev approaches barrier and again really thanks CA for helping him get on. CA replies no problem – I didn’t really do anything -if you want to say thanks its the FA who gave up her seat..have a nice day.

And that, apparently, was the last the captain saw of the man until after the flight:

Sees nonrev after flight – very upset. He let [flight attendant] sit in his seat and she fell asleep. Other FA’s would (correctly) not let him sit on FA jumpseat. He was too timid to wake up FA and didn’t know what to do.

I can’t say if this is inaccurate water-cooler gossip or an accurate account. The account is likely a mixed bag, as most such stories are when passed along like the game of telephone, but I think it’s safe to say that JetBlue’s account will likely vary substantially when they do respond to the suit.

The original story just seems a bit too bizarre. There would simply be waaay too many witnesses for any flight crew to allow such a violation of flight regulations to occur — and it would involve the entire flight crew letting this happen. I remain skeptical of the original account.

More:

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

 

May 14th, 2008

Dennis Quaid Testifies Before Congress

I’d previously written of how Dennis Quaid’s newborn twins were victimized by malpractice when they received a massive overdose of heparin.

And I’d also written how he sued Baxter Healthcare over the mix up.

Today he testified before Congress. This is the most important quote:

“Like many Americans, I believed that a big problem in our country was frivolous lawsuits. But now I know that the courts are often the only path to justice.”

Those who advocate tort “reform” generally have this in common: They’ve not been seriously hurt by someone else’s negligence and never imagine it can happen to them.