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Tuesday, January 14, 2003Lawyers have been on my mind a lot lately, and not just because of the medical malpractice crisis. It seems that everywhere I turned last week I was hearing about lawyers. First, I had a patient who was trying to get an auto insurance company to cover the physical therapy he had after an auto accident. The insurance company’s lawyer says his xrays show a chronic condition that’s responsible for his back pain. Trouble is, the “chronic condition” is nothing more than an anatomic variant. It isn’t a disease. It certainly didn’t cause his back pain after the accident. Don’t lawyers have an obligation to make sure their allegations are based on reality? In stark contrast, later day another patient came in who had been in a car accident a month ago. He said he “was told to get himself checked out.” (I’m guessing he answered one of those mailings that people get from personal-injury lawyers after accidents.) He really had no physical findings on exam, and had minimal complaints. Yet, as he left, he said he hoped to “get something out of it.” Grrrrrrr. But the most nettlesome case is a patient who I suspect is getting ready to sue me. She doesn’t realize it yet, but that’s what’s going to happen. She thinks that she’ll just be suing the hospital. But my name’s on that hospital chart, and sure as shootin’ I’ll be dragged into it. She’s angry about a recent surgery she had. I haven’t been able to get a good grasp of what it is that she’s so upset about, at least not medically. She had some respiratory complications afterwards, but she was treated appropriately and nothing bad happened to her. Her surgery resulted in the desired outcome. No problems there. Yet, every time she comes into the office for something she vents about the hospital. She got her records. Her son is going over them with a fine tooth comb. Her daughter-in-law says this. Her pastor says that. The only consistent complaint I hear each time is that “they” were rude to her pastor. (I’m not sure what “they” did, but I think that a nurse tried to explain to her pastor that she wasn’t at liberty to divulge any information about the patient, since he wasn’t a family member.) Yet, that is the crux of the matter. Her final salvo is always, “Besides, they were rude to my pastor.” This is the sad truth about many, perhaps most, malpractice cases. They begin in anger over something that usually has nothing to do with medical care. Or, they have their origins in second-guessing by relatives and friends. So why is it that one lawyer can misuse medical information to thwart a valid claim, and another can file suit where there is no injury? Why is it that they can exploit misplaced anger so easily? Shouldn’t they hold themselves to a higher standard? posted by Sydney on 1/14/2003 07:38:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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