According to a new study of malpractice claims in Texas,Why can’t injured babies and other deserving patients get full compensation?  The most likely reason is that no more money is to be had.  Not all doctors are rich, and those who are rich–who live in mansions, drive fancy cars, and send their kids to expensive private schools–are protected by state laws, trusts, limited partnerships, and other devices that insulate their assets.  One can’t squeeze blood from a stone–or a turnip, as Texans often say.  The rarity of out-of-pocket payments by physicians bears this out.  Doctors used personal assets to help resolve malpractice claims in only about one-half of one percent of the cases.  

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Perhaps the exponents of expediency just haven’t met the rescue heroes of September 11 still plagued by debilitating respiratory illnesses, but unable to get the healthcare they need in the country they volunteered to help in our hour of despair.

Or the machinist and his newspaper editor wife who had to sell their home and move into a cramped room in their daughter’s house when his heart attacks and her cancer caused their medical bills to soar.

Or the woman whose husband died after their insurer refused to authorize a bone marrow transplant from his younger brother because it was “experimental.”

They are among the stars of Michael Moore’s riveting new film “Sicko,” that we were privileged to be among 50 people in an intimate private screening in New York a few days before the premiere in Cannes Saturday night where it was the hottest ticket in town and greeted with well-deserved rave reviews.

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As the eighth-leading cause of death in the country, medical-treatment mistakes kill 98,000 people each year, and hospitals currently average between 10 and 30 mistakes for every 100 procedures. Although many errors are minor, the ratio is discomforting.

But in an effort to curb those statistics, the Safest Hospital Alliance plan, sponsored by three health systems, proposes to implement 172 safety measures at participating hospitals with the goal of cutting overall process errors by 30 percent in two years.

“In other industries, they have more like five errors per million,” said Richard Salluzzo, president of Wellmont Health System, one of the three health systems in the Safest Hospital Alliance.

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The Institute for Healthcare Improvement can make this happen. IHI has developed Engaging with Physicians in a Shared Quality Agenda, a two-day seminar that provides health care leaders with an opportunity to learn and apply concrete practical strategies for engaging physicians in the quality and safety work of their institution. Led by expert IHI senior faculty members James L. Reinertsen, MD, John Whittington, MD, Bill Rupp, MD, and Alice Gosfield, JD, the seminar will address how to advance a shared, measurable quality of care program of an entire hospital or other health system.   

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After four days of testimony and a day of deliberations, the seven-member jury found the physicians negligent.

On July 12, 1996, Sangster, then 19, underwent spinal surgery by Oni at Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary, for the correction of congenital scoliosis or curvature of his spine, the release stated.

About three hours into the surgery, the anesthesiologist informed Oni that some of the patient’s monitoring equipment had malfunctioned, but Oni chose to continue the surgery.

An hour later, Sangster went into cardiac arrest and a coma.

Later, he was diagnosed with permanent brain damage due to lack of oxygen during the surgery, Kopack said in the statement.

In 2001, a medical review panel of three doctors ruled that Oni and Kim had breached the standard of care during surgery and caused Sangster to suffer injuries.

“I think that the panel included one doctor that was appointed by both Dr. Oni and Dr. Kim, and their own panel expert ruled against them, convinced the jury to take the testimony of the experts hired by the doctors’ insurance companies with a very large grain of salt,” Kopack said in the statement.

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There is no empirical evidence to support the much-publicized notion that the tort system amounts to a lottery for injured plaintiffs, as President Bush and others have long maintained, writes Philip G. Peters Jr. in the May edition of the Michigan Law Review. If anything, the system appears to be biased against them.

For several years the Bush administration has pushed to reform the tort system, decrying an “epidemic” of frivolous malpractice cases and “runaway” jury verdicts that officials maintained were forcing doctors out of practice and leaving patients without needed medical care. Malpractice reform became a major topic in the 2004 presidential campaign; legislation is currently pending in Congress to transfer medical negligence cases to administrative health courts, Peters notes.

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About 20 percent of physicians in the survey said decisions about quality and patient safety frequently favor the organization rather than what’s best for the patients.
Among the hundreds of other cost-cutting moves that impact patient care that were pointed out by the survey participants included:
“[We] discharge of patients prematurely because hospital will lose
     money.”
  — “We really need to upgrade our defibrillators for safety reasons but
     due to finances this was nixed.”
To receive a copy of the ACPE 2007 Quality of Care Survey results, including more than 2,000 comments posted by the doctors, please email Bill Steiger, ACPE VP Communications, at bsteiger@acpe.org

Preterm birth contributes to more than one-third of all infant deaths, according to the National Vital Statistics report released today.
Although the national infant mortality rate is the lowest it’s been since the U.S. started collecting data a century ago, there’s been little change recently — 6.78 deaths for every 1,000 live births in 2004 compared to 6.89 in 2000, the National Center for Health Statistics report found.
The report, “Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2004 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set” includes a new analysis tracking preterm birth- related infant deaths. The analysis, first published in the October 2006 edition of Pediatrics, found preterm birth contributes to nearly twice as many infant deaths within the first year of life than previously estimated.
for full press release from March of Dimes, click here

The answer of the medical profession and the insurance industry is always to limit the recoveries of the patients who suffer as a result of medical error and those who represent the patients because of insurance costs. However, the insurance companies throughout this entire period have made incredible profits.

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“This bill will save countless lives in the years to come by giving the FDA more funding and flexible tools to ensure the safety of prescription drugs in the marketplace,” Jim Guest, president and CEO of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, wrote in a letter to the Senate.
“It also will help return public trust in an agency that has been severely damaged by Vioxx, Paxil and other recent drug safety disasters,” Guest added. To read the full letter, go to http://www.consumersunion.org/.
Americans are extremely concerned about prescription drug safety and support Congressional action on the issue. A national poll recently conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center found that more than 60 percent of Americans agree that the FDA and Congress have failed to adequately protect consumers from harmful prescription drugs. It also found that 84 percent agree the government should “have the authority to take any action necessary” to ensure drug safety.
Consumers Union’s network of grassroots activists are also being urged to contact their Senators in support of strong safety provisions and opposition to any weakening amendments. The Senate begins debate today, and votes could occur throughout the week.
“There is nothing in this legislation that would slow down the approval of important, life-saving drugs. Rather, it gives the FDA effective authority to ensure safety once drugs come to market by improving the surveillance of post- market adverse events and communicating possible risks to doctors and patients,” Guest wrote.
Source: Consumers Union

CONTACT: Susan Herold or Bill Vaughan, +1-202-462-6262, both of
Consumers Union
Web site: http://www.consumersunion.org/