OMG! (to steal a phrase from those much younger than I), LOL. In fact, I can’t stop laughing. I have been looking at one of the areas of tort reform that is hotly contested in Michigan, and I came across this marvelous quote from George Bush, acting as President back in 2004:
“Too many OB/GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.”–George Bush
Are you laughing too?? I am still laughing. I think it’s particularly accurate considering some of the things I have heard about the manner in which OB/GYN’s “practice” medicine, instituting their opinions and “care” when women are in their most vulnerable and passive positions and physical states. God, it doesn’t get really any better than that. I had been looking at articles about how medical malpractice lawsuits would influence tort reform, and I came across that quote that had to be shared.
Where was I? Oh yeah, talking about medical malpractice reform, but here is a good quote too:
In 2003, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies issued a devastating report detailing the scope and gravity of the safety of the U.S. health care system. Two studies showed that “at least 44,000 people, and perhaps as many as 98,000 people, die in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented.” As the New York Times’ David Leonhardt found in September 2009, “After reviewing thousands of patient records, medical researchers have estimated that only 2 to 3 percent of cases of medical negligence lead to a malpractice claim.” And as Tom Baker, director of the Insurance Law Center at the University of Connecticut School of Law and author of The Malpractice Myth, noted in August, the rate of claims is going down:
“We have approximately the same number of claims today as in the late 1980s. Think about that. The cost of health care has doubled since then. The number of medical encounters between doctors and patients has gone up — and research shows a more or less constant rate of errors per hospitalizations. That means we have a declining rate of lawsuits relative to numbers of injuries.”
So, while health care costs more, causes the same injuries and people go to the doctor more, lawsuits have gone down because of tort reforms designed to protect doctors at the expense of patient rights. That’s what I really wanted to get out when I found the quote about doctors and their loves. I guess I will just have to put this in another post. I am laughing to hard at George Bush.
Related articles by Zemanta- Republican Malpractice Myths (crooksandliars.com)
- Phoenix Medical Malpractice Lawyer Representing Doctors & Patients Talks About “Reform” (medicalmalpracticetutorial.com)
- White House offers medical malpractice initiative (cnn.com)
- Tort Reform is Industry Bailout; or Is Tort Reform Government Bail-out? (unaskedadvice.wordpress.com)
- Saul Segan: Tort Reform — Another Dangerous Scapegoat (huffingtonpost.com)
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