Posted on 07/13/2004 9:56:15 PM PDT by neverdem
Illinois has become a malpractice minefield for physicians, especially those in high-risk specialties. Here's a particularly notable example: Several years ago, Dr. Lenard Rutkowski, a neurosurgeon in the Chicago suburb of Joliet, faced a malpractice lawsuit. During an operation, the lawsuit alleged, Dr. Rutkowski had removed an extra cervical disk. Months later, the patient complained of pain and discomfort in his neck. After years of litigation, the lawsuit resulted in a $5.6 million judgment against Dr. Rutkowski, far over and beyond his $1 million in insurance coverage. The patient made up the difference with Dr. Rutkowski's office furniture, home furniture, company car and office building. A lien was placed on his house, and his checking account and IRAs were frozen. By the fall of 2002, Dr. Rutkowski was forced to file for bankruptcy not only on behalf of his corporation, but also for himself. Now, his wife takes out loans to pay the bills.
Frightened by Dr. Rutkowski's nightmare, the last neurosurgeons in southern Illinois tendered their resignations as of May. As one doctor put it: "You could almost hear the pitter-patter of neurosurgeons leaving Illinois." According to Ted Kanellakes of the Illinois State Neurosurgical Society, virtually the entire southern half of Illinois now lacks access to neurosurgeons, which means that patients don't have access to care for head trauma, aneurysms and brain tumors. Skyrocketing malpractice insurance rates, along with the possibility of losing one's home and assets at the whim of a jury, are prompting the mass exodus.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
The Kerry-Edwards ticket is every ambulance-chaser's dream.
VOTE REPUBLICAN!!!
The real problem is that every office in Springfield is held by a Democrat. The Democrats have taken huge contributions from trial lawyers and refuse to discuss tort reform. There are no neurosurgeons in downstate Illinois. Women with high risk pregnancies can't find OB's who are leaving the state in record numbers. This is all thanks to lawyers like John Edwards. Illinois is a perfect example of what happens when Democrats take over. They also can't pass a budget since they promised every special interest group the world.
Thanks to John Edward's and his trial lawyer friends ...
I wonder how difficult it would be to bring a suit (class action, of course) against the law firm that represented the patient who sued the doctor for $5 million. If we can get the trial lawyers suing each other, they may leave the rest of us alone.
Edwards is a big reason for the rising cost of healthcare.
There was a better idea: someone had begun a list of trial lawyers involved in major malpractice suits against physicians, and doctors subscribing to this list were vowing not to treat these leeches.
Wasn't there some discussion about the possibility of the lawyers suing those doctors because the doctors were not allowed to deny treatment to anyone?
ping
I heard something of that several years ago in N.C. Seems that the doctors claimed that they could not reasonably be expected to treat someone, when they were in fear of being sued. This forced one female lawyer who had been involved in malpractice suits to travel a considerable distance in order to find an ob-gyn who would see her.
See the threads linked at Death Cultivation (and under that same keyword) to get an idea at how bad their influence has been all around the world.
It was only a matter of time til they turned inwardly here. The plan of some doctors not to treat shysters is a plan that does not go far enough IMO.
Why would someone who practices neurosurgery only have 1 million in insurance, and no umbrella policy? What a moron.
He was definitely underinsured, but let's face it, the additional liability insurance premiums probably would have been substantial. I am sure he was paying at least 8% of his gross for the $1 million. As a structural engineer, I am paying about 8% of my gross for a $1 million insurance policy, and I doubt I have anywhere the exposure he did. So I would guess a $5 million policy would have been at least 20 to 30% of his gross.
I also will bet he had never been sued before, at least not successfully. Umbrella insurance in such a case would not cover his professional liability.
What's an umbrella policy, one that shields the doc's personal assets as opposed to the assets of the doc's corporation? Are they available in Illinois?
Regardless of this doc's inadequate coverage, the people of Illinois voted twice for a situation in which the southern part of the state has not a single neurosurgeon, i.e. at the polls and in the jury. They deserve what they got.
" Where does the Kerry-Edwards ticket stand on all this? Both Mr. Edwards and Mr. Kerry, who have taken in millions from trial lawyers, have repeatedly voted against limiting malpractice lawsuits. The Kerry campaign Web site, in characteristically ambiguous fashion, informs us: "The Kerry plan will hold down malpractice premiums by requiring an impartial review of a claim before an individual could file suit and by eliminating punitive damages except in egregious cases. Kerry's plan will not put a cap on legitimate damage awards." Since juries deem which claims are "legitimate" and which cases are "egregious," not Mr. Kerry or Mr. Edwards, one can easily infer that "The Kerry plan" offers no reform. "
WHEN you have people waiting for a doctor to slip up, you have a real problem, and to reward the people that sue with a life luxury is only inviting more claims ,I have never sued a doctor, or no one else for that matter, and I have seen a lot of doctors in my time ,it is almost too personel to sue, and taking someones home has got to be the worst of the worst.
The easy solution to this whole problem - don't remove the wrong disc.
Easier said than done. If the doc made a guarantee that the surgery would eliminate the pain, then he's a fool. Otherwise, the patient and the lawyer are exploiting the sympathy of an ignorant jury. BTW, thanks for answering my question.
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