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Should doctors have to pay for their mistakes?

Bishka

Bishka

Veteran Member
If a doctor makes a mistake in surgery or in disgnoses, should the doctor themselves (personally, out of their own pocket) have to pay expenses? Why or why not?

Note: This actually came from an article I found about a Romanian doctor cutting off a man's penis during a surgery and then having to pay the man back with his own money. Link here.
 
jamaesi

jamaesi

To Save A Lamb
If a doctor intentionally makes a mistake then of course they should pay- but sueing doctors for every mistake they make forces doctors to move, stop practicing, and/or be overcautious in treating patients.
 
U

UnTheist

Well-Known Member
Yes. The key is to do your best not to screw up. Being calm and alert of what you're doing should prevent such occurences.
 
Mathematician

Mathematician

Reason, and reason again
If there was neglect involved, then yes. Otherwise we don't need to scare good men and women out of the profession. Everyone makes mistakes.
 
Zephyr

Zephyr

Moved on
jamaesi said:
If a doctor intentionally makes a mistake then of course they should pay- but sueing doctors for every mistake they make forces doctors to move, stop practicing, and/or be overcautious in treating patients.
Click to expand...
Am I agreeing with jamaesi? Madness! This pretty much sums up how I feel. If there is neglect or intentional harm of course they should pay, but us Americans are just way too sue-happy.
 
michel

michel

Administrator Emeritus
Staff member
jamaesi said:
If a doctor intentionally makes a mistake then of course they should pay- but sueing doctors for every mistake they make forces doctors to move, stop practicing, and/or be overcautious in treating patients.
Click to expand...

That is perfectly true; I was speaking to my own doctor recently, who said that some are deliberately avoiding "difficult to diagnose" cases, because of the fear of litigation.

As far as insurance is concerned, the greater the number of cases of litigation, the higher will be the cost of insurance.............which then makes this all the harder to control.

When I had my hip replaced, I awoke in recovery to the sound of my own screaming (the surgeons had forgotten to give me morphine for when I awoke). Sure, I could have made a fuss, claimed, but it was (as I accepted it) a mistake made by overworked doctors who are just doing their best.

As soon as the idea of litigation and compesation "hits the headlines" for one particular case, there is an unfortunate trend of people who are ready to cash in on every opportunity - even if they have to engineer the opportunities.
 
Littledragon

Littledragon

Questing Dragon
Doctors have insurance to take care of mistakes because there is no way to be right 100% of the time. So a doctor should not have to pay for a mistake. What this doctor did was not a mistake, he was dealing with personal issues and blew up causing intentional harm to his patient. He should have to pay for this out of his own pocket.

Littledragon
 
Draka

Draka

Wonder Woman
That's why there is malpractice insurance. Though, while I realize that everyone makes mistakes (even doctors are just humans) I do think that there should be some form of public record that is easily accessible for people to see just how many times malpractice insurance has had to pay out for certain doctors. I'm pretty sure that you would want to find out if the doctor that is scheduled to do your surgery has been accused of malpractice several times. Everyone makes mistakes, but some make too many.

A lot of things get buried. Covered up by transfers and reassignments. Even the simple tech people that take your blood or do your x-rays can cause a lot of damage and you may never know that they have before.
 
jamaesi

jamaesi

To Save A Lamb
Zephyr said:
Am I agreeing with jamaesi? Madness! This pretty much sums up how I feel. If there is neglect or intentional harm of course they should pay, but us Americans are just way too sue-happy.
Click to expand...

LOL! I'm just happy you spelled my name right. :D :cover:


My exboyfriend is thinking of going back to practice in Saudi Arabia after medical school in the USA just because he can't get sued for little to no reason there.

I was getting sued by a patient- I have absolutely no idea what happened to that. The patient who is sueing me was a prisoner who "fell off the bed"- which means got into a fight. We could only see prisoners in the office on a certain day because that's the day that the prison itself decides on- we have no part in the scheduling process. Well the poor baby decided that the day his appointment was on was not fast enough for him and decided to sue the surgeon's office, from the surgeon to his employees (that's me!) to the guards that were on duty that day- he basically sued EVERYONE but those who were responsible for what day his appointment was on.
Ridiculous.
 
EiNsTeiN

EiNsTeiN

Boo-h!
I think anyone who is in charge of a certain responsibility must be punished whenever he did a mistake handeling that responsibilty...
I as an engineer (hopefully after 2 years :D ) immediatly go to jail if I ever done any mistake in my job, even if it wasn't my fault directly, since I'm the one responsible for the job at whole, that's how I'm responsible for every single mistake that occures..

The same thing applys to doctors or whoever that holds a responsibility..
 
Bishka

Bishka

Veteran Member
jamaesi said:
LOL! I'm just happy you spelled my name right. :D :cover:


My exboyfriend is thinking of going back to practice in Saudi Arabia after medical school in the USA just because he can't get sued for little to no reason there.

I was getting sued by a patient- I have absolutely no idea what happened to that. The patient who is sueing me was a prisoner who "fell off the bed"- which means got into a fight. We could only see prisoners in the office on a certain day because that's the day that the prison itself decides on- we have no part in the scheduling process. Well the poor baby decided that the day his appointment was on was not fast enough for him and decided to sue the surgeon's office, from the surgeon to his employees (that's me!) to the guards that were on duty that day- he basically sued EVERYONE but those who were responsible for what day his appointment was on.
Ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Re-freaking-diculous is right. This country has become sue-happy.
 
Engyo

Engyo

Prince of Dorkness!
Einstein has a point - in E&C work, both the firm and the responsibile individual are held accountable for their work; if something is done wrong it must be fixed. This is one reason we all get drug-tested. If the mistake causes bigger problems (up to and including accidents, injuries, property damage or loss of life) then the firm and the individual are liable.
 
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