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 do your job . . If you do your job correctly then you have nothing to worry about, right? Did you know that in some states a bartender (whose income is far less than $100K+ /yr) has to CYA because the drunk who refuses to get in a cab and drives and hurts him/herself can sue the bartender?”

I’m sorry but that’s a blatantly off kilter comparison. How exactly does a bartender cover his/her ass and how does such CYA increase the overall price of alcohol? And these types of lawsuits are rare compared to the sheer number of bartenders and the amount of alcohol served in this country.

This all seems fairly much like commonsense to me, but maybe I’m missing something. Read the rest and see what you think. What I thought was strangest was the “interaction” in the comments. Apparently demanding private financial information is considered a skilled response in a medmal discussion in the blogosphere.

Hat Tip: Kevin MD