Medical Malpractice

[Nomi]

I'm always stunned when I see these new reports of how premies are being born earlier and lighter, with few health problems evident at the time.

My father used to deliver babies for a short while out of med school while working in a hospital down near Cincinnati, before he switched to being a family practice doctor instead. He always has these amazing stories of premature infants of impossibly small sizes living, and I'm just floored. They don't even look fully developed enough sometimes and can live, it's amazing. I think that's one of the more impressive medical breakthroughs in the past few years, being able to help infants live, and reduce or eliminate problems, that would otherwise die. I was a pretty tiny baby and had to be incubated for a few days, but I was a fat little ox compared to some of the pictures I've seen and stories told to me by his coworkers.

[Jeremy]

Shit. I knew you were fucked up but I didn't know it was THIS bad. It's amazing you have such a positive attitude about it.

At least you have abs. You have no idea how hard they are to get for the rest of us with working eyeballs and all.

So, how does all this affect you in your day-to-day life? Are you ever going to be able to work a job or drive a car? If not, where do you get all this dough to buy games/wrestling videos/etc? Do you still need blood transfusions?

If a more long-term solution is found for my sight, I might be able to start driving and getting a job. Right now, working from home with writing works out pretty well. I live with my family still, ergo the game/DVD buying, which is curbed quite a bit from way back when since the money now comes from just getting change back, and working around the house. That, and review game selling, which works pretty well for the game collection, as I can get a piece of trash like Rocky Legends and get something good in return. Blood transfusions haven't been needed since I was first in the hospital for the four and a half months following birth, thank goodness.

Nomi, it is amazing, isn't it? Medical technology has advanced to such a level that the rate of long-term survival is much greater. On top of that, more is known about the stuff used before to help treat them. Incubation oxygen can now be set at a percentage (or so I've been told) to help prevent some of the eye damage caused, which is neat.

[Brand X]

People are talking as if doctors getting sued for some cases of malpractice is unacceptable, but that isn't the case at all, it's the insurance required to protect you from malpractice which is rediculous. My dad is a doctor in Cleveland, actually where this story took place, and has not had any instance of malpractice (or even being sued in this case), yet his malpractice insurance is just around $100,000 a year. This is something that is unacceptable, to require doctors to purchase malpractice insurance when it may be a large fraction of their yearly income regardless of their malpractice record.

Obviously there are real cases for malpractice that occur all the time, which is why malpractice insurance exists. But doctors should not be required to pay out their asses for malpractice insurance if they have a perfect record.

[Spammy]

true forgot all about the insurance involved..I believe my dad is covered by his employer

[Brand X]

true forgot all about the insurance involved..I believe my dad is covered by his employer

I'm sure if he is an employee directly to a hospital he is, but if he owns his own practice the insurance is payed directly out of his pocket (which is one of the largest problem with the way malpractice insurance is handled).

[Nomi]

^ Your dad work for the Cleveland Clinic by any chance?

My dad's private practice was bought out by the CC (world-class hospital and whatnot) a year or three ago, and his medical malpractice insurance has gotten a LOT worse. It's always been total rape on him, but now that he works for a major-name place like the CC, he has to have all this extra coverage. His employer doesn't cover it in the slightest, from what I recall.

A slightly higher level chick-fil-a manager makes more money a year than a doctor for an International doctor, believe it or not. Taking out all the insurance doctors have and cases and thus court fees and for lawyers... Yeah, not surprising a fast-food manager can earn more annually. It's pathetic. A few people from my dad's office have already quit practicing in Ohio just because they can't make money anymore, it's a state-wide crisis of sorts.

[Fe 26]

Yep, it is getting to be a pretty big problem for many states. There are states that are getting very close to not having anyone to deliver babies due to the reasons you gave.

We are living in a time where Doctors are getting royally fucked over trying to meet the ideals of both socialist and capitalistic people. The people want more and more government control of the medical field, but they are not willing to take the price of it out of their pockets. They instead shaft the doctors.

[Brand X]

My dad's private practice was bought out by the CC (world-class hospital and whatnot) a year or three ago, and his medical malpractice insurance has gotten a LOT worse. It's always been total rape on him, but now that he works for a major-name place like the CC, he has to have all this extra coverage. His employer doesn't cover it in the slightest, from what I recall.

My dad works for St Vincents now, he used to work for Mt Sinai before it went under.

[Spammy]

I'm sure if he is an employee directly to a hospital he is, but if he owns his own practice the insurance is payed directly out of his pocket (which is one of the largest problem with the way malpractice insurance is handled).

He's employed under the Mayo Medical Center in MN, one of their sattelite clinics. When his practice was his own he had to pay for his own insurance