Doctor proposes not treating some lawyers!

[gofaster]

Of course he's from South Carolina, like all good rebel-rousers.  Battle lines are being drawn!

Hawk, a South Carolina surgeon, said he made the proposal to draw attention to rising medical malpractice costs. The resolution asks that the AMA tell doctors that — except in emergencies — it is not unethical to refuse care to plaintiffs' attorneys and their spouses.

[1K0N]

They may be on to something!

[Capt. Pork]

Smart thinking there, Doc.

Before I start, I'd like to say that I'm consumately empathetic towards medical doctors and their ongoing battle with rising malpractice Laws. It really is a problem, one that is driven largely by frivolous lawsuits, greedy lawyers and misinformed patients. The end result, as stated in the article, includes a decrease in the overall quality and available quantity of medical care. Sad.

That being said, I think the guy making this proposal is at best being too emotional and at worst, losing his mind. He's proposing to refuse service to attorneys, which will inevitably cause them to react by finding loopholes in this concept and dragging all offending physicians into court, setting precedents in court, and creating yet more established routes for future attorneys to take advantage of people in the medical field. Unethical or not, it's plain stupid to draw up battle plans of this nature. Furthermore, one cannot ignore the fact that many malpractice attorneys fight for the rights of doctors, not against. By declaring war on others in their profession, however opposed they may be in principal, you will inexorably alientate the very people that will be in the position to fight for you if and when that dreaded Med Mal lawsuit arises.

Wanna cut MedMal insurance costs? Address the insurance companies that rake in the profit as well as the state legislature that maintains no-limit settlement practices(not all states do).

[Mickey1992]

My neighbor across the street is a Doc.  He says that Docs in my area have an active list of people who have brought frivolous lawsuits against Docs in my city and they refuse to accept those people as patients.  I guess adding their lawyers to the list is the next step in their minds.

My GP two years ago closed his shop because he was paying more than $100K a year in malpractice insurance.

[capt. apathy]

I still think the best way to get the rates under control is to limit the insurance companies to actual damages.

require the physicians to personally pay any punitive damages (which are generally only issued in the case of extreme carelessness.

this would limit the liability of the ins carriers, and have a much harder impact on the DR.s who are actually deserving of being sued (like the guy who left in the middle of surgery to go cash his paycheck, or one of the  guys who leaves watches or tools inside a patient)

[gofaster]

Originally posted by Mickey1992
My GP two years ago closed his shop because he was paying more than $100K a year in malpractice insurance.

Sounds like Ohio either needs better physicians or a better jury pool.

[gofaster]

Originally posted by Capt. Pork
Wanna cut MedMal insurance costs? Address the insurance companies that rake in the profit as well as the state legislature that maintains no-limit settlement practices(not all states do).

That's the right path. Instead of blaming the atty's who are just doing their job, blame the juries that make the big awards.

[Charon]

If they're not careful, then the lawyers may stop representing doctors when they get taken to court by thier 22-year-old trophy wives. "She got the house and the Mercedes!"

Charon