Did Katie’s show get it wrong?

As promised, here is the reaction I’ve found in the medical blogsophere (at least the part of it that I have been able to discover thus far).
GruntDoc says nice things about Kevin (as he should) but argues the show used a bad example of defensive medicine.
The Medical Quack comes up with the same appraisal [...]

On TV tonight!

Defensive Medicine: Do I Need This Test?
This very morning, by coincidence, my doctor sent me to have a c/t scan, (cat scan) to help diagnose a minor pain which I keep complaining about but which he can’t figure out. Cat scans, which typically cost several thousand dollars, are often cited as the key example of [...]

Jury awards $26.5m in suit

I realize this is a week old, which makes it virtually prehistoric in blogosphere years. But I can’t let the story of the year’s largest Massachusetts medical malpractice award go by without commenting. KevinMD asks “Did emotion trump science?” Looking at the story, one can understand why he asks the question.  The [...]

Defensive medicine will now mean hospitals refuse more doctors

In light of numerous stories about shortages of doctors, the decision of the Minnesota Supreme Court looks like it will do more harm than good. I can’t say it will change much nationally, since twenty-five other states operate the same way. But it still seems like a step in the wrong direction.

For the first [...]

The wrong doctor

How much can frivolous medical malpractice legal expenses actually cost? In the case of Dr. Lawrence Stewart of McComb, Missississippi, an otolaryngologist, he had to fight for a year, hire a lawyer, and pay out $6,100–since he had a $10,000 deductible.
That doesn’t seem very high as medmal expenses go. But the surprise here is that [...]

“Seething and Scheming”

That’s the way Kevin MD put it:
Patients are benefiting, lawyers are seething and scheming…

The story presents an interesting case study in how lawyers are trying to roll back the law that caps medical malpractice damages:
Liebbe wants to interrogate four separate doctors he feels “may” be worth suing on behalf of his client, whose 78 year-old [...]

Doctors are not bartenders

An odd thing to have to point out.
RangelMD writes some more about defensive medicine and medical malpractice:
In response to my last post about the prevailing CYA (Cover Your Ass) attitude of many docs in the medical profession, “Disabled” wrote,
“The best defense is a good offense, so accept that CYA is part of the job and [...]

First time for everything: How often do I gripe about a doctor winning a medmal case?

And honestly, I’m not positive that I should gripe about this medical malpractice ruling. But Kevin gripes just a bit, and I think I see his point. He writes,
Are physician-patients held to a higher standard?
Apparently yes, according to this malpractice lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges that a doctor cannot be held as responsible for [...]

Medical malpractice expenses are a factor in shortages

 
Since I just blogged a medmal story about Kentucky, here’s one from Pennsylvania.

Skuba said reduced reimbursements from the government and insurance companies have taken a toll on the hospital’s resources, including a trust fund that has kept the facility in the black and supported a recent 11,400- square-foot expansion that cost more than $2 million.
Another [...]

Kentucky is getting behind

The Kentucky Post reports, “State facing doctor shortage.” Right now there are 213.5 physicians for every 100,000 people, while the national average is 267.6/100,000. It is interesting to see the report’s list of reasons.

Doctors are retiring earlier.
More doctors are entering administrative medicine rather than treating patients.
The threat of litigation and difficulty of dealing [...]