[PLUG-TALK] Malpractice (2)

Russell Senior seniorr at aracnet.com
Tue Sep 7 02:57:57 UTC 2004


>>>>> "Keith" == Keith Lofstrom <keithl at kl-ic.com> writes:

Russell> Medical malpractice may very well be a significant and
Russell> important issue to physicians, but as a health care cost it
Russell> is a red-herring, waved around by the Republicans to distract
Russell> voters and to enable continued looting.

Keith> Russell, you are smarter than that.  [...] Stop with the
Keith> aggregation nonsense, and think about PEOPLE for a moment.
Keith> Please observe some real data yourself, and construct your own
Keith> statistics.  We will both appreciate the result.

What I am really looking for here is some statistics that says
malpractice is a problem that should be solved by legislating
suffering and post-error maintenance costs out of sight.

I think the problem could be solved in a number of different creative
ways, some of which I've sketched out.  For example, by society
insuring that people injured do not become immediately destitute, as
they essentially are today.  Even just by doing that, you've given
society an interest in creating systems for minimizing errors and
maximizing health.  I am uncomfortable with the idea of solving it
solely on the backs of the people who are injured.

And when you cap jury awards, because caps are a good way of
arbitrarily solving problems, please cap physician salaries and health
insurance executive compensation and health insurance company profits
too.  You do that, and I'll go along with the package deal.

Or maybe I misunderstand your solution.  Thinking back, I don't recall
what your solution is.


-- 
Russell Senior         ``I have nine fingers; you have ten.''
seniorr at aracnet.com




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