With regard to the “cap,” please take note that… even if one believes that the cap is an effective means to keep scumbag lawyers on a leash while still fully compensating victims of hack doctors, the amount which our legislature thought to be the perfect amount was $250,000… in 1975… it is now 2014… inflation has reached us in every area… there should be no reasonable argument against the notion that a dollar is 1975 bought more than it does in 2014. An adjustment for inflation to 2014 values should be acceptable… even for those promoting the cap.
Another point to make is that MICRA is absolutely discriminatory in its effect… the limit on pain and suffering of $250,000 is very often the limit of the entire case when it comes to the elderly and more often than it should be when it comes to women and minorities… Punitive damages? There are no punitive damages in medical malpractice cases… Lost wages? People over 65 are retired and women and minorities earn less than white males. Medical Costs? People over 65 have MediCare so there is none, and people on MediCal have none either. People, think before you vote. This law hurts the elderly and women and minorities and the poor… the very people who seem to NOT get the best medical care in the first place.
As a medical malpractice attorney AND physician, I found it difficult to read most of the Internet posts on this topic due to the misinformation, the hatred toward lawyers, the dramatic boo hoo me posts from physicians, and such. It’s really a very simple issue when boiled down. There are of course many great opinions posted, too bad they are often obscured by many over the top replies.
When I look into talking on a medical malpractice case, I know that physicians are not held to a standard of perfection or even to the standard of being the best or even almost the best in their field… They are held to the standard of care for their community and peers. The California legislature has made the legal procedures and rules for medical malpractice cases different from other areas, and done so with a purpose – that purpose being protection of doctors… and while there are many who see protecting doctors as a bad thing, it is not in and of itself really so… some doctors should be protected while others should not get the extra-legal shield afforded by the law. Physicians provide an extremely valuable services to the public and one that requires an enormous amount of skill and brain power to provide correctly – all in a field which is not black and white science but science and art combined – lives are at stake, opinions vary, advancements in science abound, no two patients are alike, etc. In addition, medical malpractice cases are extremely expensive and difficult to bring (properly, that is… anyone can slam together an unintelligible complaint and pay the filing fee). To make a suit “worth it,” there needs to be significant damages – and damages that would not have occurred otherwise. As a generalized example, a one month delay in treatment, that is just as effective one month later as it would have been earlier is not going to provide significant damages.
The current law makes bringing frivolous or even low dollar suits economically destructive for an attorney… as it stands now, those of us who know what we are doing will only take the high dollar cases… the hard costs of suit are enormous (as medical experts now regularly charge upwards of $800 an hour for testimony).
As for people who figure this is someone else’s problem… I hate to remind people that the victims of medical malpractice never thought they would be victims before they were… they were plain old people who trusted doctors and such prior to their “incident” (as defense counsel like to callously call it). Their lives are ruined and they deserve fair compensation… since medical injury cannot be undone, all the courts can offer is money.
Profound comments by Dr. Molinaro, who has seen both sides of the doctor/attorney equation with respect to medical malpractice claims.
The TDC attorney cited in the article is an in-house lobbyist and minion who is well paid from the $Billion+ TDC surplus coffers to drink the Kool-aid and tow the company line.
With regard to the “cap,” please take note that… even if one believes that the cap is an effective means to keep scumbag lawyers on a leash while still fully compensating victims of hack doctors, the amount which our legislature thought to be the perfect amount was $250,000… in 1975… it is now 2014… inflation has reached us in every area… there should be no reasonable argument against the notion that a dollar is 1975 bought more than it does in 2014. An adjustment for inflation to 2014 values should be acceptable… even for those promoting the cap.
Another point to make is that MICRA is absolutely discriminatory in its effect… the limit on pain and suffering of $250,000 is very often the limit of the entire case when it comes to the elderly and more often than it should be when it comes to women and minorities… Punitive damages? There are no punitive damages in medical malpractice cases… Lost wages? People over 65 are retired and women and minorities earn less than white males. Medical Costs? People over 65 have MediCare so there is none, and people on MediCal have none either. People, think before you vote. This law hurts the elderly and women and minorities and the poor… the very people who seem to NOT get the best medical care in the first place.
As a medical malpractice attorney AND physician, I found it difficult to read most of the Internet posts on this topic due to the misinformation, the hatred toward lawyers, the dramatic boo hoo me posts from physicians, and such. It’s really a very simple issue when boiled down. There are of course many great opinions posted, too bad they are often obscured by many over the top replies.
When I look into talking on a medical malpractice case, I know that physicians are not held to a standard of perfection or even to the standard of being the best or even almost the best in their field… They are held to the standard of care for their community and peers. The California legislature has made the legal procedures and rules for medical malpractice cases different from other areas, and done so with a purpose – that purpose being protection of doctors… and while there are many who see protecting doctors as a bad thing, it is not in and of itself really so… some doctors should be protected while others should not get the extra-legal shield afforded by the law. Physicians provide an extremely valuable services to the public and one that requires an enormous amount of skill and brain power to provide correctly – all in a field which is not black and white science but science and art combined – lives are at stake, opinions vary, advancements in science abound, no two patients are alike, etc. In addition, medical malpractice cases are extremely expensive and difficult to bring (properly, that is… anyone can slam together an unintelligible complaint and pay the filing fee). To make a suit “worth it,” there needs to be significant damages – and damages that would not have occurred otherwise. As a generalized example, a one month delay in treatment, that is just as effective one month later as it would have been earlier is not going to provide significant damages.
The current law makes bringing frivolous or even low dollar suits economically destructive for an attorney… as it stands now, those of us who know what we are doing will only take the high dollar cases… the hard costs of suit are enormous (as medical experts now regularly charge upwards of $800 an hour for testimony).
As for people who figure this is someone else’s problem… I hate to remind people that the victims of medical malpractice never thought they would be victims before they were… they were plain old people who trusted doctors and such prior to their “incident” (as defense counsel like to callously call it). Their lives are ruined and they deserve fair compensation… since medical injury cannot be undone, all the courts can offer is money.
– Paul
Paul J. Molinaro, M.D., J.D.
Attorney at Law, Physician
http://www.888MDJDLAW.com
Profound comments by Dr. Molinaro, who has seen both sides of the doctor/attorney equation with respect to medical malpractice claims.
The TDC attorney cited in the article is an in-house lobbyist and minion who is well paid from the $Billion+ TDC surplus coffers to drink the Kool-aid and tow the company line.