At It Again

This week, we heard that the nation's doctors, in the midst of our country's economic strife, are once again sad because they get sued just like anyone else when they do something wrong. They booed when President Obama didn't give them everything they wanted, most notably a national cap on damages, so that people can only recover SOME of their damages when they are injured by a negligent or reckless doctor.

I could write for days about this topic, about how completely ridiculous it is for doctors to even ASK for this, but I'm going to try to make it short, sweet and memorable:

1. It is already harder to sue a doctor than ANYONE ELSE. Many cases that should be brought won't be because it's not economically feasible.

2. Doctors have the right to not settle cases. This is different than with your automobile policy or other types of insurance. So they can convince themselves that they're right, and make legitimate lawsuits cost more than they should for both sides.

3. Most states already have caps on non-economic damages. The doctors just want more.

4. About 5% of doctors cause almost half of malpractice claims. Why? Because the doctors are so worried about anyone telling them what to do that they refuse to adequately police themselves. Until they do so, someone else has to do it, and it gets to be the lawyers.

Contrary to popular belief, no one enjoys suing doctors. To the contrary, it would be nice if they would worry more about practicing medicine and less about practicing law. But they don't need any more help. They already have enough of that.